Find Our Way REVISED
by HanandtheBana
Summary: Revised version of Find Our Way. Finding out she was expecting after her boyfriend disapears and her father kicks her out, she raises the baby with a strong head, pressure, and confusion but also love. Him trying to find his way back, finds himself wishing to go back to the good old days. Once a happy Uchiha, now lost. HINT OF NARUHINA & other crackships later ENDGAME SASUHINA
1. Endurance

**_Hey guys it's theBana! Finally, FINALLY I've gotten enough inspiration to revise Find Our Way and I'm so happy about it that I just had to post chapter 1 pronto, lol. If some of you read the original Find Our Way, y'all know that things get crazy and rollercoaster-y and I can just tell you guys now that this one is just the same, just makes more sense, lol._**

 ** _After help with Hana, I've learned to take events in my writing slower and I honestly think it's just made everything better for this story._**

 ** _I'll give more details at the end of this chapter, of course, but for now enjoy! I DO NOT own ANY Naruto EXCEPT for my baby Soseki annnd thats about it.. have fun reading ;3_**

* * *

 _She giggled, "Sasuke stop" as he kissed up and down her neck, she softly moaned._

 _"No, never." He breathed, tickling her with his voice as he continued to make trails along her neck and collarbone. She stared up at her ceiling, watching as it moved with her breathing._

 _Running her fingers through his hair, she moaned once more and he pulled away. Staring deep into her eyes as he opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out._

 _"Sasuke?" She called out, sitting up as he sat up and watched as he floated towards her window. "Sasuke… where are you going?" She whispered, pulling her blankets up to cover her nude body as within a blink of an eye, he was dressed._

 _"I have to go, Itachi needs me." He said as her window forcefully opened, causing her long dark locks to stir and twist due to the sudden wind. She reached out for him, but he suddenly was yanked out._

 _"Sasuke!" She screamed, scurrying out her bed and towards her window to look outside. The sky was a purplish-blue as the winds only grew harsher. Placing both hands on her window seal, she yelled, "Sasuke!"_

And woke up, gasping for air as she forced herself to sit up. Looking around, she realized it was just a dream; a nightmare, more like it. Running her fingers through her hair, she sighed and decided it was time to get up.

Dreams like that was normal to her, but that didn't mean she was used to it. That night… all she wanted to do was forget about it, but it seemed more and more impossible each night.

Getting out of bed, she headed towards the bathroom to prepare herself for today. Because today was the day she forgot about him, because today she had a date.

Her shower was warm and relaxing as usual, preparing her for the wild mornings she had whenever the smell of breakfast woke up the beast. Her son, Soseki Uchiha, a blessing that has helped her each and everyday through these five years without his father.

It wasn't like his father was dead, at least, she hoped he wasn't dead. Sasuke, the love of her life left with his brother without the knowledge of her carrying his child; their child. He left everything behind. His family, his friends, his girlfriend, his unborn child; everything was left behind and he hasn't been seen in years…

The fear of not knowing if he was alive or dead, it scared her for years as his abandonment angered her. He left out her window with her trust and purity, and never returned, changing her life forever. She was no longer just shy little Hinata Hyuga, no, now she was mommy and soon to be Dr. Hyuga.

Stepping out the shower, she cleared her thoughts. He was the last thing she wanted to think about this morning, so that's exactly what she was going to do, not think. She had to do.

First things first, she had to— She stopped in her tracks as she heard the doorbell and frowned. She's just got out the shower, who could've possibly been at the door at this time? Wrapping her robe around her nude body, she made her way downstairs and towards the soft knocks.

Opening it, she was surprised to have been face to face with Naruto. "Oh! Y-You're early." She greeted shyly, looking down at her slipper covered feet as he chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, sorry, it's just.. I had to bring these gifts before I forgot." He said as he lifted his other hand that held two bags, she raised an eyebrow as she reached for them but he pulled them away. "Hey! There's some things for you too, so no peaking." He chuckled, causing a small smile to appear on her lips.

"Here, you must be cold." She invited him in, opening the door wide enough for him and closed it when he began to take his shoes off. "I uh, was just about to fix breakfast." She said as they both made their way towards the kitchen. "I'm fixing waffles and sausage but um, Seki, he's still sleeping and I was just-"

"Hinata, don't stress. Go finish taking care of you, I am supposed to be watching the little guy anyway. I'll prepare breakfast annnd you, you go get ready." He insisted, shushing her before she could even protest and shooed her back upstairs.

She looked back down on him before turning back into her room and couldn't help but to smile. He was her childhood crush, but now biggest male best friend. Without Sasuke being around, Naruto's been nothing but a big help and she couldn't have been anymore thankful.

Soseki loved him, as she's sure Naruto loved him back. When she told Naruto about this date, he was the only one other than Tenten who was supportive and even pushy enough to make her go through with it and now it was happening.

Untying her robe, she began to get ready. It didn't take her long to choose her outfit, but it took her forever to do her hair. _'It becomes more of a hassle every month.'_ She thought, sighing to herself as she began curling the next section of hair.

It wasn't until she heard Soseki and Naruto's laughter downstairs that she made her way back down, sniffing the air to smell burnt waffles and sausages.

One of the things she loved about her house was how the stairs led her right towards the kitchen. Smiling widely, she saw how Naruto played with his charcoaled waffles in order to make Soseki laugh and copy.

"What are you two doing?" She questioned, causing them both to stop as she crossed her arms with a forced serious face. "Soseki, haven't I told you to not play with food?" She asked her son, causing his eyes to widen as he immediately pointed towards his uncle Naruto.

"Wh-Whiskers started it, mommy! I… he burnt the waffles and-and I tried-"

"Oh! He's such a little tattletale, Hinata! He distracted me when I put the waffles on and-"

She shook her head as they began telling on each other in unison and couldn't help but to burst out in laughter, shutting them both up. After a while, she wiped a tear away and made her way towards the food to fix herself a plate as both their widened eyes stayed glued to her.

Naruto's eyes were the first ones to narrow. "Ohh, Seki, she's just pulling our tails." He grumbled, gaining the child attention as he tilted his head in confusion.

"Our… tails?" He questioned, getting a small nod in confirmation as the grown man leaned in closer to whisper,

"She's not actually mad at us, she was just playing-"

"Oh! Mommy, that's not nice!" Soseki gasped, causing her to gently laugh as she took her seat next to him. He stared up at her. "I thought you were mad at me and Whiskers." He said, pouting once she messed up his hair and smiled down on him.

"Of course I wasn't. It's nice that your uncle at least tried to fix breakfast for us and it's only polite of us to eat it-"

"Um… but it hurted my teeth." He mumbled to her before she could take a bite out of her own waffles. She pretended to be shocked as she slowly placed her waffle down and picked up her sausage, fighting back a smile as he nodded at her decision.

Naruto watched the exchange with betrayal, but it went away once Hinata gave him a small reassured smile. He nudged the little boy, "Hey, brat, a thanks won't hurt anybody-"

"It won't hurt as bad as your waffles hurted my teeth!-"

"Hurted isn't a word, y'know-"

"I know that your cooking-"

"Soseki, Naruto, eat breakfast please." She requested, staring at the both of them as she tried to do the same. The house was always like this whenever Naruto was around, filled with laughter and color. She loved it, and again couldn't have been anymore thankful…

* * *

When the time came for her date to arrive, she was nervous. Her hair was wavy, her face was lightly beatened, and for heavens sake, she was dressed up like never before.

They've been texting throughout the day until recently when he said he was on his way, and that alone made her anxious. Another thing that made her anxious was when he said to get dolled up. Earlier, she had on a sweater and a long skirt, but now… she had on some fancy lavender blouse and dark skinny jeans and heels that she regretfully allowed the boys to pick out.

It looked nice, but she didn't want to look too nice. It was the first date after all.

"You look…" Naruto started, until she turned to face him. His eyebrows furrowed, "Anxious, what's wrong?" He asked, plopping down on the couch as she sat on the arm gently and frowned.

"Nothings wrong-"

"Hinata-"

She shook her head, "Nothing is wrong, I'm just.. nervous?" She questioned more than stated, causing him to frown as he took her hand in his. She tensed up but soon relaxed once they connected eyes.

"Hina, you don't have to go on this-" He stopped himself once she shook her head once more and weakly smiled at him.

"I-I know that, I just.. I want to. I've… I've never been on a date that required this much anticipation, I guess that's why I'm so nervous." She assured him, squeezing his hand as her phone began to ring. "I'm sure that's him. Naruto, thank you so much for watching Seki for me. I won't be home late." She thanked him as she then kissed his cheek and answered her phone. "Um, hello? Hi…"

"Seki, come say bye to your mom!" Naruto called, looking back at Hinata as she giggled on the phone and couldn't help but to smile himself. All he wanted was her to be happy. If that meant with Sasuke, with this guy, or…

"Bye mommy!" Soseki yelled as he ran down the stairs and towards the living room. "Have fun and don't talk to strangers." He said, hugging her legs tightly until she hung up her phone and picked him up to kiss him goodbye. "Oh boy!" He laughed, trying his best to fight her affection away, but failed.

"I," she kissed his left cheek. "Love," She kissed his right cheek. "You!" She kissed his forehead multiple times, placing him down to mess up his hair. "I promise I won't talk to strangers, if you promise me that you'll listen to uncle Whiskers." She negotiated, causing the almost five-year-old to furiously nod.

"I love you too and I promise!" He swore, looking back at his uncle to stick his tongue out. "Mommy, can you bring food back please? He's going to fix nothing but noodles again-"

Naruto scoffed, crossing his arms as he towered over the young child. "Correction, they're ramen-"

"Same thing, Whiskers-" Soseki started, turning towards Naruto as he crossed his own tiny arms.

"Not even close! Hinata, I change my mind, I can't watch the uncultured!-" Naruto joked as he turned his head up and Soseki began to bounce himself in a pout.

"Mommy! Uncle Whiskers is going to leave me alone!" Soseki told on him, causing his mommy to laugh as she shook her head, bent down, and kissed his forehead once more.

"I promise you he won't leave. You two are going to have fun, I swear." She whispered, standing back up to her full height only to connect eyes with Naruto's ocean orbs. Heavens, did she love his eyes. "Please-" she stopped herself once he held his hands up.

"Don't worry about anything, Hina, I have this under control. You go enjoy that dinner and I'll try not to burn the house down by making dinner for me and the little guy later-"

"Oh heavens." She whispered, smiling once he chuckled and hugged her.

"Go, now." He shooed, opening the door for her as her date began to call once more and she struggled to answer. "Wave bye, Soseki." He said, waving himself as the little boy did too. She looked back at them and couldn't help but to frown as she forced herself to look away.

This date should make her mood brighten, but she just couldn't bare the thought of leaving her baby alone. That and well, she couldn't truly process that she was going on a date with another man that wasn't him.. _'Sasuke… I wonder what he's doing right now.'_ She thought, biting back a frown as she opened the man's car and smiled at him.

"Why hello." He greeted, smiling brightly at her as she tried to do the same.

"Hello." She greeted back, pushing all thoughts of him in the back of her mind. Right now was her time to move on, she couldn't dwell anymore. The decision was already made… no matter how forced it seemed.

* * *

"Bullseye! Pay up, lover boy." A white-haired man said cockily, smirking that toothy smirk once lover boy roughly handed him five bucks. "Aw, what is this? I thought we agreed on thirty?" He whined, causing the raven-haired man to roll his eyes.

"No, we didn't. I said if I win, you owe me thirty bucks. We never agreed on what I owed you if you won-"

"Aw, c'mon Sasuke, that's not fair-"

"Tsk, give me back the five then." He spat out, connecting obsidian with purple until the man shoved the five dollars in his pocket. "Hn." He breathed, swiftly turning to leave with the man known as Suigetsu right behind him. They walked into a dimmed room of laptops and hanging newspapers, looking upon the dates as they inched closer towards the long-haired man highlighting one in his hand. "Brother." Sasuke called, crossing his arms once he got no response. Well, not from the one he wanted attention from at least.

"Sasuke, I'm glad to see you're done entertaining that idiot Suigetsu." A redhead woman chimed, placing the laptop on her lap beside her as she made her way towards the two taller men. Suigetsu shook his head, shrugging his shoulders as he said,

"Yeah, yeah, I guess now it's time for him to entertain the pathetic one of our little group.", causing Sasuke to subtly smirk as the woman almost immediately punched him in the chest, knocking him back a bit.

"SHUT UP, SUIGETSU, NO ONE WAS TALKING TO YOU!" She yelled, glaring daggers at the man as he rubbed his chest, grumbling, "Yeah, just talking about me" as the long-haired man, known as Sasuke's elder brother but most importantly, their leader looked up from his newspaper, rather irritated by their actions.

"Karin, have you found any information about what I've asked?" He asked calmly, causing her to tense up as she slowly dropped her fist and shook her head in shame. He mentally frowned at that, but kept his face impassive as they all looked at him as though to read his mind. He looked towards Suigetsu. "Have you dug up the deleted files I've asked you to do?" He asked, causing the white-haired man to sheepishly scratched the back of his head. He sighed, shaking his head as he stared back at his newspaper. Sasuke frowned, taking the paper away from his brother in order to read it.

 _"Homicide victim, Doctor. Kabuto Yakushi, found dead inside his office after presumed murderer leaves a rather disturbing message behind with victims blood."_ He read out loud, frowning deeper as he looked at his brother's distressed face. "He was our only lead-"

"I know-"

"Itachi, he was our only fucking lead to that damned scientist!" He hissed, throwing the newspaper on the ground as his brother Itachi closed his eyes. Suigetsu picked the newspaper back up and silently read the rest, smirking to himself after a while as he made his way over to Karin's laptop.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?" She snapped, glaring at the man as Sasuke and Itachi awaited his next move.

"Shut up, will ya? Let the professionals work." He said, taking a seat next to Itachi as Sasuke leaned over the table to watch his fingers type away on the keyboard, ignoring Karin's presence as she decided to lean on him to watch. "In that newspaper, they said how the murderer left a disturbing message with that assholes blood, right? Well, if you have continued reading Sasuke, you would've read how they believe the murderer was his long term patient, Jugo. Some guy that broke out of the psych ward a few months back." He explained, causing the brothers to nod as they took in this new information.

"There could be a connection between the three men. Yakushi and Orochimaru were said to be partners, so if this Jugo man was a long term patient, he could know some information about Orochimaru-"

"Yeah, boss man, you're right about that, but you gotta look at it like this. The mans a fucking psychopath and has just killed a man. Now, I can admit, I'm not the _most_ innocent soul in this room, but I can gladly say that I've never killed someone _nor_ have I ever associated myself with a killer." Suigetsu said, causing Itachi to officially frown as Sasuke sighed with frustration.

"No shit, none of us have, but there's a lot holding on this. If he is the killer, then what was his motive?-"

Suigetsu scoffed, "Dude, he doesn't need a motive, he's a fucking psychopath-"

"But what led him down that path in the first place?" Itachi asked, taking Suigetsu back a bit as Sasuke shrugged Karin off in order to grab another laptop off the desk. "Suigetsu, if I give you the right information, I want you to break into the Konoha police system to find the pictures of this homicide. Little brother, dig up some information on our newest lead, Jugo, and Karin… if you could gather anymore information out of these newspapers, that'll be helpful." He ordered around, getting an excited "Alright" from Suigetsu as Sasuke scoffed, seeming to be already two steps ahead of him. Karin… she hesitantly did as asked, rubbing Itachi the wrong way but he decided to push it to the side for now.

They were no where near close, but there was still hope. Hope, something he's been holding so desperately onto for nearly five years now. It all started when he left her alone that night… He shouldn't have left her alone that night!

"Hm, look at this." Sasuke said after a while, gaining their attention as he began to read. _"It wasn't until the sudden death of Jugo's close friend, Kimimaro, when he became completely uncontrollable and some suspect vengeful. He was locked away shortly after attempting murder against **Scientist** Orochimaru_-"

"No fucking way." Suigetsu exclaimed, causing Sasuke to smirk as Itachi pulled the laptop closer to him to continue reading. "So, this Jugo guy really is connected— Wait, what good does this give us? We've been looking for Orochimaru's main hideout for how many years now, and still haven't found him? Why the hell would we waste our time trying to find another psychopath-"

"Hn, and to think I thought you were a genius in disguise a few minutes ago." Sasuke teased, causing Suigetsu to roll his eyes as he leaned back in his chair.

"Yeah, whatever, but I'm serious. Tracking this guy seems like a bad idea." He stated, watching Sasuke as he stressfully ran his fingers through his hair and explained.

"Look, since he's connected and the murder wasn't that far from us, we can try and find him before the police do and get some information out of him-"

"Ha, what makes you think a psychopath is going to be cooperative towards a bunch of strangers?" The smart-ass asked, looking back at Karin's laptop once he finally broke into the Konoha police system. Itachi spoke up as he gave Sasuke back his laptop.

"Then we follow his movements. If he was put into the psychological hospital because attempted murder and mental trauma from loss, then there's no doubt in my being that he won't go after Orochimaru next. Yakushi was just a warning, nothing else." He stated, studying Suigetsu's face once it paled. "What is the matter?" He asked, taking the laptop from the frightened man as he mumbled,

"You want us to follow a psychopath that can do that?"

They all, despite Suigetsu looked at the gruesome pictures, noticing the countless blood splats on the walls and furniture, all the broken glass, and… was that an eyeball next to the sink? Karin covered her mouth as Sasuke's stomach then turned, but they both held down their sick as Itachi flipped through the pictures.

His body wasn't even recognizable, a way that no one wanted to go out like. All you could see was his bones poking out with mixed blood and beaten flesh turned way over purple. Itachi glanced over his brother's features and fought back a frown. He truly never wanted to drag Sasuke into such a mess, but the young man all but refused to let him do this on his own…

Orochimaru wanted him. Why? He had no idea, but in order to capture him, he kidnapped Izumi… his girlfriend. Was she alive? Yes. For how much longer? He had no idea. At first, he thought she was simply ignoring him for leaving her alone after a heated argument, but when he went to visit her at her house and her mother distraughtly told him she ran away, he knew right away that it was a lie hiding something else rather big, which… he was correct.

To say he called her number a thousand times was an understatement, because it felt like a million times in his head. He knew Izumi. He knew she'd never run away from home, no matter how tough things got between her and her mother or even the two of them, she'd stand and fight until her point was across or until they agreed to disagree. So, it all made no sense whatsoever… until a man answered her phone.

A slimy yet slick voice, a combination that turned his stomach. He heard Izumi's cries of pain, but had no idea what caused it. He heard the mans terms to never inform the police or she'd die, he heard when the man gave him a false address led up by another fake address, and he heard clearly till this day when the man said his goal was… him.

In panic mode, he ringed a half asleep Sasuke, scaring the teenager half to death to the point they met up not even fifteen minutes after the call. They argued, and they even almost fought, but Sasuke still refused to get out of his car. He told his foolish little brother that it was dangerous, but he didn't care. He told his foolish little brother that he had no idea when he'd come back home, but he still didn't care. He told his little brother that no one, not even his girlfriend could know about this, and his foolish little brother said… "Anything to keep her save"… which spoke to Itachi.

Anything to keep her save, to keep Izumi save… he'd do anything.

 _"I call it, explosion. Hebi's creation next."_ Itachi read the blood written message, officially causing Karin to be sick as she then ran towards the closes bathroom in their hideout. Sasuke plopped down next to him and took in a deep breath, trying his best to focus as Suigetsu commented,

"He dotted the I's with pieces of the assholes eye.", gagging once Sasuke lost it right then and there and rushed towards the nearest trash can. Itachi closed his eyes, trying his best to block out the noise as he thought, _'I'd do anything… we'd both do anything.'_

* * *

She sighed to herself as she slipped off her heels and turned on the living room light, frowning as she thought of the events prior. Well, she was never seeing him again…

 _Flashback to dinner date*_

 _She squeezed her eyes shut as she threw her hands forward, immediately opening them back up once she felt a bone bend a way it was never supposed to bend against her palm with the sound of her date harshly cursing under his breath. "Ah, FUCK!" He hissed in pain, glaring at her with a mixture of anger, pain, and confusion as she threw her hands over her mouth._

 _"Oh my heavens!" She mumbled within her hands once she saw blood coming from his nose, causing his stare to harden. This was definitely not what she had in mind…_

 _"What the fuck is wrong with you? When a person goes in for a kiss, you're not supposed to karate chop their fucking nose off!-"_

 _"I-I didn't mean to, I was… a little caught off guard, th-that's all-"_

 _"Caught off guard, so you punch me in the fucking nose!?-"_

 _"I-I **didn't** punch you in the nose!" She protested, looking away from him once he pointed towards his now crooked nose. "I… I was just trying to push your face away from mine, but I-I guess I used too much force-"_

 _"Tch, you think? You know, I thought this was a good date, but I guess my friends were right. You nurses are a real fucking hassle-"_

 _She frowned at that, ignoring his words as she offered him help. "Um… please, I-I can pop it back in place-"_

 _But he refused, "Yeah, like I'd want your help. You're the reason it's crooked in the first place! Do you not know who I am?" He questioned, standing from his chair as she hesitantly did the same. She looked around the restaurant as eyes from here and there began staring at them. "You should be honored I tried kissing you!" He yelled, causing her to furrow her eyebrows as she frowned and the owner made his way towards their table._

 _"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you two to leave. You two are disturbing my good paying customers of their meals." He dismissed them, causing both parties to gasp. This definitely wasn't what she had in mind. "I can call one of you a cab, but if either of you refuse to leave, I can gladly call the cops instead." He warned, smiling somewhat anxiously as Kameko began to protest. She didn't need to be told again, especially since she knew that the man wasn't going to tell them again without the assistance of police. She bit her lower lip as she silently began gathering her things._

 _"You can't kick me out! I'm one of those good paying customers, do you not know who I am!?" He asked the owner as Hinata silently took her leave, but not before hearing the manager say,_

 _"I don't, nor do I care to find out. Now if you'd please. Your lady friend has already made up her mind."_

 _She made sure she was out of earshot of their argument before she could hear what Kameko's opinion on her was now, positive that it wasn't anything good._

 _Flashback end*_

She shook her head from the horrid memory, in a way trying to shake it out of her head as she locked the front door and made her way upstairs towards her sons' bedroom. Maybe it just wasn't meant for her to move on from him…

Yeah, this was only the first date she's been on after deciding to move on, but clearly it was the wrong thing to do. _'I truly didn't mean to hurt him…'_ She thought, running her fingers through her hair as she quietly opened the door.

Once opened, all negative thoughts disappeared as she gently smiled at the image in front of her. Soseki, her four-year-old son was cuddled up with his uncle in his toddler bed, asleep. She couldn't help but to take her cellphone out and snap a picture, tucking it back in her purse once she fully entered the bedroom to tuck them in. When she went to pull away, a tan hand gripped her wrist.

"Hinata… is that you?" The blond mumbled sleepily, turning towards her as she placed her free hand on top of his as comfort.

"Yes, Naruto, it is. Please, go back to sleep, I didn't mean to wake you." She said as she removed her hand, but he never removed his. Instead, he threw his legs to the side of the awfully small bed for him and yawned, causing her to smile as he stretched his free arm out.

"Shit", he yawned, standing from the bed once he finally removed his hand from her wrist. "For him to be you and Sasuke's son, he sure does know how to talk a lot. I guess he's gotten that trait from me, y'know since I'm always around." He talked, causing the short woman to gently laugh as she turned the boys nightlight on.

"He just has a vivid imagination, I quite enjoy it. Mother Miko says how it's the beginning steps of a prodigy, something that she and father Fu deemed both their sons as." She said as they made their way out of the bedroom and towards her living room.

She lived in a cozy two story two bedroom home, just big enough for her and her son. When she first saw it, she fell in love. As soon as you walked in, there was the living room with the view of her kitchen right behind it. Her tv stood halfway in front of the window as four stools sat behind her two seater couch at the isle. Though it wasn't as big as she first would've liked, she's grown to love the living room the most throughout her house.

As they made their way down the stairs, she decided to stop in the kitchen. "Have you ate? If you like, I can make us a snack." She offered her close friend, looking back at him briefly before pulling out some random fixings. He shrugged his shoulders, leaning against the counter as he silently watched her.

"A snack couldn't hurt anybody, but didn't you just get back from a dinner date? I'm usually stuffed after having one of those." He laughed, causing her to amusingly shake her head as she laid out four pieces of bread. A small frown tainted his lips as he then asked, "How was it anyway? Is he the new one?" He asked somewhat jokingly, but somewhat mockingly as she playfully rolled her eyes.

"It was… different." She admitted as she placed their bread in her toaster. He tilted his head in confusion… different?

"What do you mean by 'different'?" He asked, studying her face once she leaned against a different counter and sighed. Obviously whatever different meant, it wasn't good.

"Well, it's just… He was the complete opposite of who he presumed to be. He wasn't gentle like usual at all, nor was he kind, and he seemed very, very conceded." She explained with nothing but sorrow in her eyes. "He tried kissing me and I… accidentally broke his nose-"

"Wait what? You broke his nose?!" He incredulously asked, getting a shy nod in response as he began to laugh. "Holy shit, how does someone accidentally do that?" He asked, causing her to blush as she decided to prepare their condiments for their toasty sandwiches.

"They must panic, because I did. One second we were talking about Seki, then the next, he's bringing up… him." She mumbled the last part, causing the blond to frown as he thought, _'She still can't openly say his name…'_

No, she couldn't, not yet at least. It still left a sting to her throat and a pain in her chest, no matter how many years that have passed. How was someone supposed to openly talk about a man that left her as vulnerable and broken as he did to her? Because she had no clue. Two years, they dated for two years before deciding to take the next step in their relationship, so for him to have left out her window with not only a broken promise of return, but also with her purity, it left a wound deeper than she wanted to admit.

On their one-year anniversary, he promised her that she was the one for him, his soulmate— so why!... why did he leave her like this? So empty and…

"Maybe you're just not looking in the right place." Naruto's voice chimed in, interrupting her thoughts as her eyes shot up to his. He sheepishly shrugged. "Y'know, like maybe going on dates with random guys isn't for you… maybe you should… I don't know… try someone… else?" He questioned, causing her eyes to widen.

"Like… who?" She asked somewhat hesitantly, pushing herself off the counter to get their toasted bread until he reached out for her hands. "Um.." She started, but he simply shook his head and smiled down at her.

"I uh… have something for you." He announced, causing her to shyly blush as she remembered the gifts he brought earlier. "Soseki's gift was… well, follow me." He said, giving her no time to debate his request as he started dragging them back upstairs.

She didn't know what the blond had in mind, but to say she wasn't a tad bit curious would've been a lie. "Naruto, I-I don't-"

"Just come here." He breathed as he finally released her hand and made his way towards the couch in the loft. "I uh… got you this." He reached inside the black and purple bag and pulled out a box, handing it to her as she stared at it with widened eyes. Hesitantly, she reached for it while staring at nothing but him as he explained himself. "I wouldn't have given it to you tonight if things— I mean, I would've, but the meaning of it would've been…" He paused once she opened it and gasped, "Different."

"Naruto…" She whispered as she traced her fingers over the pearled necklace. It was a purplish blue pearl within a silver moon and small diamonds around it that nearly took her breath away. It must've costed a ton. "Oh Naruto, I don't-"

"Do you… not want it?-"

"No, no I-I do, it's just… why?" She asked, staring down at the necklace briefly before she stared deep into his blue orbs, causing him to blush. He sheepishly chuckled as he looked away, saying,

"Welll, if your date went well… it would've been a friendly gesture.. a very painful, yet friendly gesture." He tried to explain himself, but she just couldn't wrap her head around what he was getting at, so asked, "what do you mean", causing his cheeks to burn brighter as he nervously chuckled once more. "I uh.. aheh… truly wanted to give this necklace to you out of my love… for you." He confessed, causing her to subconsciously squeeze the necklace as she stared up at him, dumbfounded.

He… had love for her?

"Ro-Romantically?-"

He nodded, "Romantically, Hinata." He confirmed, causing her to swallow thickly as she finally looked away from him and towards well, anything but him. "I'd understand if you don't want to accept my gift-"

"It-It's not that, it's just… I wasn't expecting this.. any of this. I-"

"I-I know, and I'm sorry for that, it's just… heavens, Hinata, you're such an amazing person and friend and mother y'know? And I.. just watching you grow as a woman from high school to now, I'm so proud of you and want to protect you and Soseki from any and everything life throws at you guys as more than just uncle _Whiskers_ and your male best friend.." He talked on, causing a small smile to spread across her lips as her heart twisted and turned in her chest.

"I… I want to be with you completely, and I want to help you raise Soseki. I'm not saying that I want to replace Sasuke, because that's another conversation entirely, but.. I am saying— well, I'm asking if you could give us a chance… so… can you?" He asked as she looked back at him and frowned, causing him to frown as he went to reach for her free hand but she pulled away and sighed, turning her attention towards Soseki's bedroom wall and shook her head in confusion.

"Naruto, I… I-I can't just accept this." She started, placing both hands and the necklace on her heart as she refused to look back at him. "I wanted to be with you, but that was when we were younger-"

"You can't say that you have zero feelings for me-"

"I-I can't, because I _do_ have some feelings for you, Naruto… bu-but I… I can't betray _him_ like that-" She stopped herself once he scoffed and took a step closer to her, going to reach for her but then hesitated.

"Hinata, I don't want to betray him either, but I can't deny my feelings for you anymore." He stated, causing her to look back at him painfully as he frowned once more and placed both hands on her shoulders. "I… I _love_ you, Hinata, and I can't watch from the sidelines anymore. You deserve love, you deserve happiness, you deserve the whole _fucking_ world, Hinata." He gestured around them, causing her to weakly laugh as he too laughed and sighed, saying, "And I want to give them all to you."

"I… I have mommy duties, Naruto-"

"Mommy duties doesn't mean you have to forge all your happiness-"

"I-I know that, but… Soseki he… he sees you as an uncle, how would it affect him if mommy and uncle started seeing each other?-"

"We can ease our way into that-"

"And-And my in-laws-"

"Auntie Mikoto and uncle Fugaku can't dictate your love life, Hinata. They wanted you to wait for Sasuke to return for nearly _five years_ , Hina, and now that you finally want to move on, they're upset." He snapped, causing her to frown as he wasn't wrong. When she told them about her date with Kameko, to say they were pissy is an understatement. "They should be upset with their son leaving you alone to raise his child, _not_ because you finally want to get a move on with your life! You have needs too!-"

She shut him up with a kiss only to immediately pull away. Both eyes widened, she placed her hands over her lips as he traced his. "Hinata.." He whispered, causing her to shake her head.

"No… th-that was an accident-"

"No it wasn't-"

"Yes, it-it was, us ha-having a relationship is-" This time he shushed her with a kiss, cradling her face as she sniffled within the kiss, wishing to fight back her tears but just… couldn't. She pulled away again, covering her mouth as she began to silently cry. "I-I'm sorry-"

"Don't… I'm uh… Sorry, I should.. I should go-"

"You-You don't have to-"

"I-I think I do, Hinata. I'm sorry.." He apologized, looking at her for a moment before he pulled away from her and made his way downstairs. Watching his receding back, she sniffled and wiped her cheeks, forcing herself to follow him towards the door. Hearing her footsteps with him, he began to shake his head. "You can uh.. keep the necklace. If the date went well, I would've given it to you anyway just as a friend-"

"Na-Naruto, I… I don't want this to affect our friendship-"

"It isn't— hasn't… I'm uncle whiskers, nothing more, nothing less-"

"Naruto-" She stopped once he turned to face her with his hand on the doorknob. "I… I don't want to lose you too-"

"No, I don't want to hear that, Hinata, because I want…" He sighed with frustration, looking back at the door before he stared deep into her lavender orbs. "Sasuke didn't only leave you, Hina, he left me too, okay? He was my best friend, and I would've done anything for him as I'm sure you would've done the same, but he couldn't even stay, let alone _warn_ us about him leaving.." He snapped, causing her to frown as she bit her lower lip and looked away from him.

He continued, "You're trying to move on from him, so why!... why can't you move on with me?" He asked weakly, getting nothing in response so decided that on that note it was time for him to leave. Turning to leave, he asked, "Can you just… think about it?" And officially took his leave without another word.

She felt a tear stream down her cheek as she watched his receding back, but decided to say nothing and slowly closed her front door, locking it as though in slow motion as she began to break down.

Naruto was known for his timing, but this one topped the cake. It wasn't the right time for her to take in his true feelings about her, especially after the date she had, but…

"He-He's right…" She sniffled as she began to numbly turn off the lights. "He's right about everything.." She whispered to herself as she made her way towards the kitchen to put away and clean up their forgotten sandwiches.

She wanted to move on from Sasuke, but… she didn't know if she could yet.


	2. Impatience

_**Heyy,**_ ** _its TheBana back with chapter two! I'm sorry for the wait, but HAPPY NEW YEAR! On the first of January, I was in a huge writing mood and rewrote this chapter._**

 ** _It went from a family chapter to a dating one until I decided to just focus on Sasuke and his adventures, giving Hinata an emotional break, lol. I took a page out of Hana's book, and just typed until it all came together and made sense to me._**

 ** _This chapter brushes over suicide and you can get a sense of where Sasuke's headspace is at and where its headed towards.._**

 ** _Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I'm excited to start writing chapter three and getting on with this story because theres way more to come!_**

 ** _I do not own any Naruto except for my baby Sosekii, annnnd enjoy! :)_**

* * *

 ** _Chapter Two_**

He stared outside his window as he took a drag of his cigarette. He hated smoking, but took it up cause it killed time.

A streetlight from across the street had his attention, reminding him of the night it all began.. Where he made the choice to skip town with his brother.

 _"What's wrong? Where are you going?" She asked with worry laced throughout her words as he hung up the phone and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, but I have to go.. Itachi needs me." He said as he slid his pants on._

 _He turned towards her and frowned as she sat up and held her blankets close to her nude chest. "I…" he stopped himself once they connected eyes and looked back towards the ground to find his shirt. "Don't give me that face." He breathed, causing her to frown as she laid back down to watch her newly lover get dressed until she saw the time._

 _"Sasuke, it-it's four in the morning-"_

 _"And I'll be back to you at seven when your dad head to work." He said causing her to frown as she said, "you promise?" And he nodded, making his way over to her to kiss her forehead. "I promise, Hinata." He promised, giving her one more kiss on the forehead until she shyly held onto his shirt. They stared deep into one another's eyes._

 _"Be safe, please." She worried, closing her eyes once he kissed her goodbye. She gripped his shirt in desperation until he broke the kiss with a smirk and tapped her forehead with love._

 _"You worry too much. I'll see you at seven." He said, making his way towards her window as she watched in silence…_

Exhaling the smoke from his lungs, he closed his eyes, wishing that he could just go back to that night. If he could, he would've made sure none of this happened.

Izumi wouldn't have gotten kidnapped, she and Itachi wouldn't have gotten into whatever argument they got into, and he and Hinata would've been engaged by now!

He balled his fist only to straighten his hand out again once someone entered his bedroom. "Not now." He said to the intruder, not bothered enough to see who it was.

Their safe house was some abandoned cabin in Kumo that strangely felt like home to him. In some ways at least. He shared a bedroom with Itachi and Suigetsu, leaving the second bedroom to Karin and her doings.

"Oh, little brother, I wouldn't have bothered you during your alone time if I didn't have good news." His brother said as he approached the bed and Sasuke sat up in curiosity. He raised an eyebrow as though silently suggesting his brother to continue, which he did.

"Suigetsu and I found him; we found Jugo." He announced, causing Sasuke's eyes to briefly widen until he closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "He's in a motel just outside Konoha-"

"Wait.. Konoha? Meaning he's _in_ the land of fire?" Sasuke asked, immediately removing his hand from his face to watch his brother's reaction pause. Once Itachi nodded, he jumped up out of bed and began to pace around the bedroom.

"What does that mean? Does that mean Orochimaru is also in the land of fire?" Sasuke asked, thinking of all possibilities at once until he stopped in his tracks. "Hinata," He mumbled, causing his brother to fight back a frown as he continued on with his discoveries.

"I don't know, but I feel that if he's not inside the land of fire, he's definitely outside it's border and Jugo's traveling to it a day at a time." Itachi said, somewhat trying to reassure his brother, but it didn't seem to be working.

"We should ambush him." Sasuke blurted out after a while, taking his brother back a bit as he nodded to himself. "We know what motel he's staying in, so at night, we drive there and we ambush him-"

"Little brother, we can't get reckless now that he's close to home-"

"You saw what he did to that doctor, Itachi, we don't want him getting like that in Konoha-"

"Sasuke, if we ambush him, we might lose our only source to Orochimaru and who knows what would happen to Izumi-"

"Nothing, because we aren't ambushing Jugo to attack him, we're ambushing him to get him to join us! We both want the same thing! Orochimaru dead-"

"I think you've lost what our common goal was here, little brother, because _I_ just want Izumi alive and safe in my arms." Itachi reminded, causing Sasuke to ball his fist as he took a step closer to his older brother. They stared at one another silently until Sasuke hissed,

"You're not the only one whose lost a girlfriend and want her safe.", he pointed outside, "I left mine to keep her safe from all of this but if Jugo brings it to her city, what am I supposed to do?-"

"You're not supposed to ambush him to make our matters worse-"

"So what am I supposed to do?! This Orochimaru guy made us leave the land of fire and jump from country to country to find him, but Jugo-"

"Sasuke," Itachi said over him somewhat sternly, causing the raven-haired man's eyes to narrow as Itachi's did the same. "Let's say we do ambush him and he does agree to join us, but for a price. What if he ask us to kill someone for him, or to injure someone so he knew we weren't with the cops?" Itachi asked, placing his hands behind his back as he turned to look out the window.

He continued. "What if us killing someone got on the land of fire news, or worse. What if when we left all those years ago, our father along with Minato, the Hokage of Konoha who has connections with the daimyo, the leader of the entire country, put up missing posters for us and is on lookout through the land of fire-"

"We left nearly _five years ago_ , Itachi-"

"And they've still haven't heard word from us, because we've strayed away from home, like Orochimaru said to do. Little brother, put your recklessness aside and think rationally." Itachi breathed, looking back at his brother once the younger man scoffed. "Orochimaru kidnapped Izumi in our neighborhood, meaning he knew where we lived and where Izumi lived. Leaving the country, it was the only thing we could do to keep our loved ones safe-"

"With Jugo around, they're not safe-"

"I'm more worried about what Orochimaru could do than Jugo, little brother. Because whatever Orochimaru and that doctor did to Jugo made him this way." He said, placing a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and frowned once he tensed. "We can't go back home until Izumi is with us and Orochimaru is out of our hair-"

Sasuke threw his brother's hand off of him. "And how long will that take, Itachi? Another five years?-"

"However long it takes!" Itachi raised, staring deep into his brother's eyes until he decided to take his leave. "In these next couple of days, we'll continue to track Jugo's movements. Hopefully he'd make it to Orochimaru by the end of next week. Get rest, little brother, I'm sure you need some." Itachi said as he left out the door and left Sasuke alone with his thoughts.

Get rest? Get rest? With the news he just dropped on Sasuke, how was he supposed to just sit still and get rest? They needed to do something, but since Itachi was so reluctant, he'd just do it instead.

* * *

 ** _A few hours later.._**

* * *

He busied himself with the laptop screen as he subtly watched his brother move about the cabin. It was only 10:28pm and Itachi was moving around like he was tired, which Sasuke knew damn well he was.

He usually went to bed around 10:40, or 11, and Sasuke knew as soon as his brother knocked out, it was time to leave. He had a plan, and Itachi wasn't about to hold him back from it.

If he left the cabin around 10:50 or 11 on the dot, he'd make it to Jugo's motel at around 6am. At least, driving fast he would. Looking at Suigetsu and Karin, he nodded, silently letting them know that the plan was still on and to get ready, which they did immediately.

"Hey, boss man, is it just me or are you falling asleep over there?" Suigetsu asked, causing Itachi to shake his head even though the truth was obvious for everyone to see. Karin plopped down next to Itachi and hissed,

"Shut up, Suigetsu! If he was falling asleep, your questions aren't very useful is it?" She asked, causing Itachi to sigh and Suigetsu to scoff and grumble, "like you're any useful?", getting her to stick her tongue out at him as he then said,

"My questions aren't as annoying as your loud mouth, Karin, how about you shut it for once and-"

"Did you just tell me to shut up!?-"

"I'm going to bed." Itachi announced over the arguing duo, causing Sasuke to fight back a smirk as he looked over the laptop and towards his brother. Suigetsu and Karin silenced as they too watched Itachi get up, he grumbled under his breath while Karin was the first to speak up.

"I thought you weren't tired?" She asked, getting no response as he made his way to the bedroom and made sure he closed the door tightly. Once the three of them heard the door lock, Sasuke closed the laptop and Suigetsu jumped up as though ready for anything.

Connecting his obsidian eyes with purple and red eyes, he said, "Get the guns, trackers, and snacks for the road. I'll be in the car. If we leave by 10:50 we'd get there sooner, and the sooner the better.", and walked towards the cabins door. "Be discreet, he's going to bed, he's not sleep." He warned, causing Suigetsu to sigh and Karin to swat his arm as he left out.

"You should listen to him, idiot, if it wasn't for Sasuke, we'd both be dead." Karin hissed at the slightly taller man as she rolled her eyes and made her way towards the closet with their weapons. Suigetsu followed in spite.

"I wouldn't be dead-"

"Oh right, you'd be in some jail and tossed around like a sex doll-"

"Oh yeah? And where would you be? Any place better? You are the daughter of-"

"Shut your damn mouth, Suigetsu!" She lowly growled, looking back at him as he stared her deep in the eyes with a sly smirk on his lips. "First of all— actually, no! I don't have to explain myself to you-"

He scoffed, "I could give two shits about your explanations on why you do what you do. But just know, if I ever have to choose whose ass I'm saving, I'm saving my own." He warned as he gathered the trackers and laptop. She rolled her eyes.

"Of course you would, you're nothing but a thief." She grumbled as he made his way out of the cabin without another word.

She hated him so much. He made it seem like she had a choice, which she didn't. Everything she did was for her safety, but also for everyone else's. Instead of making her feel guilty for keeping things from the Uchiha brother's, maybe Suigetsu should've thanked her.

If Sasuke and Itachi ever knew the truth… no one would be safe..

* * *

They stared at the motels window as they all studied the moving shadow inside. They arrived around seven, nearly eight because of Suigetsu and his small bladder. If Sasuke had known that, Suigetsu would've stayed at the safe house and kept word for them, but atlas, it was too late.

He looked at his team, then at the time. "We're going to ambush him." Sasuke said, causing Suigetsu's eyes to widen as he threw his attention on Sasuke and Karin practically froze.

"You want us to what? Do you not remember what he did to that doctor?! He literally dotted-!"

"I know what he did.. he won't do that to us-"

"And how could you be so sure, _boss man_?" Suigetsu mocked, getting a deadly glare out of the youngest Uchiha until he looked back at the window. "I thought we were coming to see if it was actually him on the tracker, not to commit suicide-!"

"You don't have to come in with us then." Sasuke spat out once he looked away to gather his weapons. "Karin and I will be right back, you keep look out and make sure we're unnoticed. There's cameras everywhere, block them out from when we arrived until when we leave." Sasuke ordered, exciting Karin a little too much as she cocked her gun.

Suigetsu looked at Sasuke as though he was speaking another language, which made Sasuke smirk as he then said, "What? Can't handle that simple task either?", causing Suigetsu to roll his eyes as he began to hack the security cameras.

" _Ha ha_ , Sasuke. Just don't get killed out there." The white-haired man said, mumbling under his breath, "Cause Karin is just as crazy as Jugo…", As the two of them left out the car.

Karin silently crept up to the motel door and began to lock pick it, leaving Sasuke on lookout for her, which he did nonchalantly. She peaked inside the window for a second, then turned towards Sasuke.

"I think he's about to take a shower." She whispered, getting a nod in response as Sasuke looked at the time on his watch and said, "Hurry up then."

He knew that his plan was going to work. Jugo was the key to everything. He's been in Orochimaru's hands before, he knew what Orochimaru did to the hunted and where he did them at. They didn't need to track him down like some animal, they needed to recruit him.

Looking back at the car, he watched as Suigetsu gave them a thumbs up, meaning the cameras were off for a couple minutes. Before he could ask how many minutes they had, Karin had the door unlocked. Everything was going smoothly..

"You wait outside, I'll be right back-"

"What? No! What if he attacks you? Or worse!?-"

"We don't have time for this, Karin! Stay and wait outside, I'll come back out. We don't want to intimidate him with a lot of people." He said, causing her to frown as she reluctantly nodded in agreement.

Making himself inside, he raised his hands, telling Suigetsu to give him ten minutes on the cameras as he then proceeded to shut the door. Looking around him, the motel was thrashed.

Boxes of takeout all around the bed, which was in itself a mess. The sheets and blankets were horribly folded next to the door as Jugo's bags were under the tv stand that had newspapers covering the tv. _'What is his deal?'_ Sasuke thought as he silently creeped along the small room.

After a while of looking through the newspapers, he noticed a ticking noise that didn't seem to stop from below. At first, he thought it was the clock on the nightstand, but it seemed to have been coming from the bags. Squatting down, he unzipped the bags one by one until he found what was ticking… a bomb.

Jumping up, he went to go for the door to warn Karin and Suigetsu, but as soon as his hand touched the doorknob, he was yanked back and thrown on the floor, getting the wind knocked out of him.

He looked up at his culprit and saw him.. Jugo. His hair was damped as he had a towel around his waist. Did Sasuke seriously just get thrown by a naked man?

"Speak, who are you!?" Jugo ordered around, causing Sasuke to glare at him. Nobody ordered Sasuke around, not even Itachi. Getting up without uttering a word, Sasuke dusted himself off, angering the hot tempered killer to the point he went to grab Sasuke, but he dodged.

Staring at one another, it was like a joke. Jugo was around 6'5 as Sasuke stood 6'0 and according to muscles, it looked as if Jugo were to punch Sasuke, it would be end game, but little did Jugo along with anyone else know, he knew how to take care of himself.

Jugo went to punch him, but Sasuke dodged it with his hand and went to throw a punch of his own, getting his hand caught and twisted until he used Jugo's own strength against him by lifting himself up to kick the taller man in the stomach and away.

The orange-haired man caught himself before he could fall to the ground and charged at Sasuke, growling as Sasuke went to do the same, only to jump out the way at the last minute, causing Jugo to nearly hit the wall if Sasuke didn't trip his feet.

"You little-!"

"I didn't come here to fight you." Sasuke breathed, getting a "bullshit" from the bulky man as he went to turn on his back. Sasuke swiftly pulled out his gun and cocked it once Jugo was looking at him from below. Sasuke pointed the loaded gun to his head. "I would've killed you in the shower if my plans were to drive all the way here to fight you, but I didn't." Sasuke said, getting a small sigh out of the taller man.

Never lowering his gun, he watched as Jugo sat up and asked, "What do you want then if it doesn't involve my death?", causing Sasuke to nearly smirk as he then said, "Orochimaru dead." Jugo's eyes widened as he looked Sasuke deep in his obsidian eyes.

"Orochimaru…? You want me to…"

Noticing that his request choked him up, he began to explain himself. "For nearly five years, he's had my sister-in-law captive in hopes of getting my brother for whatever reason. He told us to never inform the police, to never return home, and to find him for exchange of her for my brother's life, and my brother being in love is willing to do that, but I can't stay by and watch." Sasuke said, lowering his gun as Jugo listened intently.

"That Doctor you killed, he was our only lead. Our plan was to follow Yakushi to one of Orochimaru's hideouts to sneak her out, but now that Yakushi is dead, my brother is considering the exchange, while I'm considering following you and hoping you take care of the pest while we get her out-"

"You want me to kill Orochimaru for you guys?-"

Sasuke shook his head. "I want you to take Orochimaru's life for yourself. When you killed Yakushi, it was on the newspapers and news and unlike those who read that and called you a monster, I read deeper about you. Orochimaru and Yakushi did what they're trying to do to my brother and his girlfriend to you and your best friend." Sasuke said, causing Jugo's eyes to darken.

"I won't let that happen, and you shouldn't either-"

"I won't! What they did to Kimimaro is inhuman and unforgivable!" Jugo yelled as he balled his fist and Sasuke simply nodded, taking a seat on the bed as Jugo seethed through his teeth. "I'LL RIP ALL HIS BONES OUT AND CREATE A NECKLACE WITH IT FOR KIMI, I PROMISE YOU THAT!"

Sasuke smirked, saying, "Promise that to Kimimaro, not me. What me and one of the guys on our team suspect is that you know where his hideout is.. and it's close-" Sasuke stopped himself once Jugo shook his head and began to suddenly break down.

"No… no, it was abandoned!" He began to cry, causing Sasuke's eyes to briefly widen as the man then got on his knees and began to cry harder. "He knows that I'm after him, so he fled the country! I don't know where he went, but I searched all throughout Oto and there wasn't a trace of him no where! I… I was going to commit suicide, to-to be with Kimi but-"

"The bomb." Sasuke whispered, remembering the ticking bomb as Jugo nodded and continued to talk.

"Yeah, with the bomb, but now, you've given me a reason-"

"We have to stop the bomb, Jugo!" Sasuke yelled, as though the man couldn't put two and two together. "There's people in most of these motels, if the bomb goes off, these people will die and-"

"To hell with them! Half of us are killers anyway-"

"That's not the point, Jugo! This town, it's-" he got cut off by Karin harshly knocking on the door. "Um, Sasuke, honey, we have three minutes left!" Karin warned through the door, causing Jugo to jump up along with Sasuke. Jugo pointed towards the door.

"Who the hell is that!?" Jugo asked, causing Sasuke to sigh as he went to pick up his gun but Jugo got it first, pointing it at Sasuke with shaking arms. "I thought we connected!" Jugo yelled, causing Sasuke to slowly raise his hands.

"We did.. we want the same thing, Orochimaru dead-"

"No, now I want _you_ dead-!"

"Jugo, I can't fucking die because I have to protect my brother! We all want something similar here! You want revenge for Kimimaro, I want revenge for the five years Orochimaru took from me and my brother! You wanted to die? Well I always do, but I can't be that selfish and neither can you!-"

"I'M NOT BEING SELFISH! I GOT NOTHING TO LIVE FOR-!"

"Live for Kimimaro, whose dead! Instead of blowing up a motel room CONNECTED TO OTHER MOTEL ROOMS!" Sasuke yelled, causing Jugo to sniffle as he swung the gun around. Jugo placed a hand over his heart as he wailed, causing Sasuke to frown as he slowly lowered his hands. "Jugo.."

"THEY KILLED HIM!" He cried out, loosening his grip on the gun as Sasuke gently took it from him and reluctantly hugged the naked man. "They killed him…" He continued to say, causing Sasuke to nod as he patted him on the back.

"I know… but we'll get revenge… together." Sasuke whispered, knocking Jugo out with the butt of his gun and watched as the bulky man fell to the ground. Moving quickly, he rushed to the door and yanked it open. Karin's eyes widened once she saw the man asleep on the floor and bit her lip.

"Wow, Sasuke, working out paid off.." She flirted, causing him to roll his eyes as he rushed out the room and towards the car. Suigetsu jumped out.

"Sasuke, the cameras are coming back on in less than a minute. We gotta-"

"Override it, we have to warn the others-"

"The others? About what?"

"Jugo was trying to kill himself with a bomb that could kill half, if not everyone in these motels-"

"Sasuke, what does that have to do with us!? If these cameras turn back on-"

"Override them!-"

"I can't, man! I've already tried!" Suigetsu said, causing Sasuke to scoff as he stressfully ran his fingers through his hair. "What are we gonna do?" Suigetsu asked, causing Sasuke to curse, "Fuck!" As he began to jog back to Jugo's motel room. Suigetsu reluctantly followed, more worried about the bomb going off with him near than the cameras.

"Karin, go get the car started and bring it closer to Jugo's room. Suigetsu, help me with his body and the bag with the bomb-"

"A bomb?!-"

"I'm not picking that thing up-!"

"Shut the fuck up and do what I just said to do!" Sasuke snapped, causing both Karin and Suigetsu to silence and do what they were told. "Make sure you hide your faces." Sasuke said as he rushed inside the room and tied a pillowcase around his face. "Do the same, Sui." He ordered as he then looked at the bomb. "Fuck." He breathed, getting a "what?" From Suigetsu as the shorter man began to pull Jugo. "We don't have time to move the bomb!"

"Honey! Come on!" Karin yelled as she covered her face with her hands. Sasuke lifted Jugo's arms as Suigetsu pulled and they slowly, but surely made their way out of the room and towards the cars trunk. Sasuke knew that this didn't look right at all on the cameras, but at least their faces weren't visible.

"Honk the horn and keep honking it until people come out." Sasuke ordered as they shoved Jugo's body inside. She looked confused at first, but still did as told. One by one, doors were opening, but not as many as Sasuke would've liked. Suigetsu pointed his gun at the ones who opened their doors to see what the noise was, and began to yell, "RUN, RUN FAR AWAY IT'S A BOMB!" As the two of them jumped back into the car.

"Step on it!" Sasuke ordered, watching in the rear view mirror as some took the warning and then it happened.. the bomb went off. "Holy shit!" Suigetsu said with Karin in unison, causing her to briefly swerve if Sasuke didn't help take control of the wheel.

This didn't settle right with his stomach, but it truly wasn't anything he could do about it now. Though he couldn't save anyone, he saved himself and his team and better yet, Izumi by preventing Jugo from being in that explosion..

 _'We're one step closer to saving you Izumi… and one step closer to returning home… Hinata.'_ He thought to himself as Suigetsu and Karin continued to freak out over the deaths they've just seen. "Did you see that one lady!? She was on fire while running!-"

"And then she collapsed!" Karin said weakly, blinking away tears as she tried to drive straight. He tried to block their words out, but couldn't… this was going to be a long drive back to Kumo..


	3. Endearment

_**Hello everybody, it's the Bana & I'm back with**_ _ **chapter 3! To say I struggled with this chapter is an understatement, but I finished it and quite like how it turned out. Things are progressing, and with chapter 4 I havent gotten deep into it yet but I can tell you beginning is wild.**_

 _ **This chapter I feel like is one of many that will be shaping Sasuke and Hinata into the people they are once it's their time to be reunited. For those of you who read the Find Our Way I'm revising, it gets wild, it gets crazy, but now with a deeper meaning to everything and I love it.**_

 ** _I also love the support that I get with every story that I or Hana put together. I appreciate all the positive and negative reviews, but mostly the positive ones though as it keeps us motivated, lol. To make these stories with characters I love and to connect with you guys that love the stories we put together with the characters you guys also love is awesome to me, and saying that, I hope you guys like this chapter!_**

 ** _I do not own ANY Naruto EXCEPT for my lovely baby Soseki, and again please enjoy!_**

* * *

 _ **Chapter Three**_

* * *

She watched the news with a frown on her face, watching as paramedics lifted some of the bagged bodies onto the gurneys. **"Today we've lost a few of our nations people. Most of them who have yet to be identified, leaving only seven survivors out of twenty-six."**

"So horrible.." She whispered as she turned the news up some once she heard Soseki and his after school friend come in from the backyard. Soseki called from the kitchen, "Mommy! Takahiro and me are hungry! Can we have more snacks?", causing her to nod in silence as she corrected him, "It's Takahiro and I" and continued to listen to the news.

 **"Here is victim Juru Harra, can you please explain to us and to the people at home what exactly happened here?"** The news reporter asked, getting a nod out of the bearded man as he bent low enough to talk into the mic. Soseki went to ask his mom for another snack until she got up, her focus still on the tv.

 **"It was a lot of yelling, I can tell you that much! It was these three dudes in a car; two wore these mask while the other covered their face. They seemed in a rush, but not so much of one as they deliberately honked the horn-"**

 **"Wait, deliberately? As though they were warning everyone involved in the explosion?"** The woman asked, causing the man to reluctantly nod as he then added. **"One of the men started ordering for all of us to run with his gun out. They probably would've helped if they had more time, but I don't know.. it all seems kinda shady to me."**

 **"Do you think it's drug related?"**

The man scoffed, **"I think something shady definitely went down, yes. Drug related? I don't know about that."**

It switched to another witness in questioning as she made it to the fridge. Soseki and Takahiro smiled up at her briefly before looking back at each other and running back outside.

She couldn't believe it, a motel exploding with over ten dead? It was all too close to home for her liking. **"Can you tell us and the audience at home what you saw today?"** The news reporter asked a shaken up woman whose attention was more focused on the road than the cameras. **"Uh, ma'am?"** The reporter called out, causing the woman to tense as she looked the brunette straight in the eyes.

 **"I.. I woke up to two men arguing in the room next to me. It was really muffled, until a woman called for.. I-I don't remember his name…"**

 **"A woman? So you believe a woman was involved?"** The reporter asked, causing the petite woman to frown as she shakenly pointed towards Juru who was now being interviewed by police and said, **"It was two men wearing mask and one woman. I… I know I heard a feminine voice-"**

 **"And what of the man you heard them arguing with? Do you think he was caught in the explosion?-"**

The tweaked out woman shook her head. **"No!"** She blurted out, recalling what she heard before the explosion. **"There were two manly voices arguing after that feminine voice called out. But after a while, it was a loud thud and the leader told the woman and some other guy I think to move the body and to uh.. 'Shut the f up and do what he just said or else.'"**

 **"And you believe they then moved the body of the other man?"** The woman asked, causing the tweaker to furiously nod as she pointed towards the road and said, **"Looking out my window, I can tell you that the honking didn't start until they threw a body in the trunk."**

"Heavens.." Hinata breathed as she shook her head and made the little boys sandwiches. _'What kind of monsters would do such a thing?..'_ She thought as she began to cut the sandwiches into squares.

 _'Hopefully they find the man soon'_ She hoped, making her way towards the backyard with a sick thought in the back of her mind that maybe the man didn't need to be found..

* * *

"C'mon boss man, we didn't get caught!-"

"Silence Suigetsu!..." Itachi snapped, widening the mans eyes as he caught himself in time to take a deep breath to calm down.. He rephrased himself, "It isn't the point. The three of you went behind strict orders I gave and risked us getting caught; risked Izumi's life-"

"But uh, but we didn't get caught, Lord Itachi. We successfully brought Jugo back with us and he's even agreed to help us find her-"

"That's if we find her before the Land of Fire Police Force collects all their witness reports and figure us out, Karin-"

"Itachi, you're worrying too much-"

He looked at his younger brother in disbelief. "Am I?" He asked as he went to sign into the Konoha News on his laptop. "They've been talking about it for the past four hours, I was simply waiting for you all to return." He explained as he forwarded the recorded news to key points. "Listen to this."

He pushed play and crossed his arms as he watched Sasuke roll his eyes and do the same. Karin and Suigetsu sat up and paid attention to the news clip.

 **"The leader voice told the woman and some other guy I think to move the body and to uh.. 'Shut the f up and do what he just said or else.'"** A tweaker woman explained, causing Sasuke to scoff as he said, "I didn't say that." And got flicked by Itachi. "Wha! Ow!" He hissed, glaring at his older brother as the man did so back. **"And you believe they then moved the body of the other man?"** The woman asked, causing the tweaker to furiously nod as she pointed towards the road and said, **"Looking out my window, I can tell you that the honking didn't start until they threw a body in the trunk."**

"It doesn't matter if you said those exact words or not, what matters is that she heard all four of your voices, and even your name, little brother." Itachi explained, causing the entire room to tense as he continued, "We're lucky that she doesn't remember for now, and while she doesn't right now, we need to keep it that way." He stated, causing Sasuke's eyes to widen as he mumbled,

"What do you mean by that, Itachi?", getting a knowing look out of the man which made his stomach turn. "Are you.. talking about murdering a woman right now?" He asked with anger building within, glaring deep into his brothers calm eyes. "What happened to you not wanting to kill anyone-"

"That was, of course, until you recklessly risked outing us. This is what we have to do before she remembers your name-"

"If she does remember my name, they'd have a hell of a time connecting me with her-"

"Or they'd think, _hey, isn't Sasuke the name of the boy who went missing a couple years back with his older brother?_ " Itachi interjected, causing Sasuke to frown as he gave more explanations. "Our father would then look into it with the Hokage and then Orochimaru would get word of it and he would kill Izumi and little brother, so help me Kami, I would kill you."

"Over a woman?-"

"No, Sasuke, over your recklessness. You and I are going to pay that woman a visit while you two," Itachi looked towards Suigetsu and Karin, "You two are going to respray the car. And Karin, cut your hair and dye it. We need to lay low." Itachi ordered around, sighing to himself as he made his way to the back with Sasuke behind him. "Any problems with our plans, little brother?-"

He scoffed, "Yeah, maybe the entire plan about killing some woman-"

Itachi stopped in his tracks. "This is a kill or be killed situation, little brother. If she gives out your name to the police, do you not know what kind of damage that would have on us? It'll connect us to those deaths, this supposed kidnapping, and the explosion." Itachi nonchalantly explained to him, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he continued and turned towards Sasuke.

"We wouldn't be able to return home with a clean slate-"

"We wouldn't be able to do that if we go through with this either-"

"No one would know. She's a tweaker, we'll track her down and make it seem like an overdose-"

"Do you not hear yourself right now?! You're planning a murder right now!-"

"Orochimaru has been planning our deaths ever since we ran from home, Sasuke. We aren't home anymore, we're in the wild." Itachi stated with a frown, getting a small frown out of Sasuke as he continued. "With Jugo with us to help, we can find him and stop him from ever hurting us again, but we cannot do that without getting some blood on our hands. I'd rather us not hurting or killing anyone but.. little brother, her having any information on us puts mother, father, Hinata and her family; everyone we care for in danger." He explained, causing Sasuke to curse under his breath.

"We have to silence her.." Itachi insisted, getting a reluctant nod out of his younger brother as the young man thought, _'If I were ever going to kill someone, it would be for her; Hinata.'_ Itachi watched as Sasuke's features darkened, he was beginning to adapt to this kill or be killed world and he didn't know if that was a good thing or bad thing. "We will return home one day, Sasuke.. and when we do-"

"Izumi nor Hinata can know about what we've done." He stated, seeming to already know his brothers drill. They were supposed to go in quietly, kill her, and return to their safe house to track Orochimaru down once and for all.

For five years he's been reluctant to search Hinata up, or to even call her. He didn't want to put her in danger. He wanted no one to know about her or his past life before he and Itachi joined up with Suigetsu and Karin. To them, his main focus was to find Orochimaru for his brother, but if they paid attention, they'd realize how it was for the both of them..

"Once we kill this woman… we find Orochimaru and we go home." Sasuke declared, getting a small nod out of his brother as he went to walk away, but Sasuke stopped him. "I need you to say it, Itachi.." He said, nearly causing the older Uchiha to frown. "Say that once we find Orochimaru, or better yet, Izumi, we would go home without a second thought-"

"We will.. And we would never tell a soul what we've been through to get back home. Now, let's get ready. I'm sure the Land of Fire Police plan to ask our target a lot of questions in the morning.. Once Suigetsu and Karin's done respraying the car, we should be on the move." Itachi said, patting Sasuke on the shoulder once before officially making his way down the hall..

He needed the reassurance; the plan after the five years he's spent being hunted and on edge all the time. If murdering one woman was the ticket to see Hinata again and to get his freedom back then.. _'So be it..'_ He thought, making his way towards his shared bedroom to get ready for the worst…

* * *

"I tell him all the time how he isn't that young looking Hokage anymore, and how he needs more strategic moves instead of action all the time." The redheaded host explained to her best friend, getting a nod out of the dark-haired woman as her husband silently ate his food next to her and her best friend agreed,

"I tell Fu the exact same when it comes to his police work. When Konoha got attacked all those years back, he made sure he was in the front lines-"

"So did Minato!-"

"Yeah! But that was back then.. The older you become, the wiser, so why not use some of that wise with what's happening outside our borders right now?" Mikoto questioned, getting nods out of the redhead named Kushina and her son as Hinata and the men silently ate their dinners.

Every other Saturday was a dinner with the Uchiha's and the Uzumaki's. They'd host it at one another's house, and tonight it was Kushina's turn.. Naruto's mother. Hinata knew the dinner couldn't have been helped as its been happening for years, but she was embarrassed!

Across from her was Naruto, one of her best friends that she hasn't seen in nearly two weeks after his little… love confession. She knew it was more dire situations happening around them like the explosion outside their border, but to be sat across the table with him after the goodbye they had… she felt flustered.

"Come on, you two. I dislike speaking of work while I'm eating. To stress about work at work is one thing, but to stress about work at the dinner table? It's sickening." Fugaku complained as he then angerly bit the food off his fork. Naruto sighed and shook his head as his mother spoke up,

"Uh, Fu, don't you think its less 'talking about work' and more 'talking about our worries as civilians'?-"

"Oh, don't count yourselves as regular civilians, because none of you are. You're married to the Hokage, our states leader as you're married to me, Miko, the chief of police." He stated as he looked from Kushina to his wife, getting a small nod out of Minato as he added to his argument.

"We've both been trying to find out the people behind the explosion, but we honestly can't do much without the Daimyo's orders. You guy's have to keep in mind that the explosion happened outside our border, so it isn't much we can really do until he gives us direct orders." His words made mostly everyone around the table frown, which he expected as he knew his words weren't going to be helpful with the concern they all had.

Naruto, being one of the guys who didn't frown, spoke up, eyebrows furrowed in anger. "I'm sure what mom and auntie Mikoto are worried about though is how the guys got away. Regular civilians or not, these three people just caused an explosion killing nearly thirty people and got away! That's what the issue is right now-"

"We know that boy!" Fugaku yelled at him, causing everyone's eyes to widen except for Naruto's. "Your father just said how the only thing we can do is wait and question OUR witnesses. Seven people survived, three of those people are Konoha citizens so that means THREE people will help your father and I console Konoha." Fugaku continued, roughly placing his fork and knife down as he forced himself up.

Hinata looked back and forth from him to Naruto until Mikoto got up to touch his shoulder, he shrugged her off. "No, it's too late, I've lost my appetite." He stated as he excused himself with a nod. Mikoto looked towards Kushina and her family and frowned, opening her mouth to speak only for Kushina to raise her hand with a shake to her head.

"Don't, I'll get up to pack the leftovers." She said, getting a small smile out of the dark-haired woman who then offered to help. Hinata watched as one by one everyone despite herself and Naruto got up and left. The only thing left was the awkward silence between them that neither of them knew how to break, it pained her.

"I guess I should help clean too." He spoke up, causing her eyes to widen as his voice scared, yet surprised her. He could speak to dismiss himself, but couldn't speak to try and resolve their friendship? "Um.." She started, but to finish was a whole different step that she couldn't make.

He looked at her for a minute, hope in his eyes, but soon it vanished, and he got up. "Goodbye, Hinata-"

"Please stay." She blurted out, causing him to pause in his movement as she continued to drag on her words. "Stayy and help me with the table be-because I uh… I don't want to stack the plates wrong?" She questioned herself at first as a small smile appeared on his lips and she then added a small, "Please?"

"Are you sure you want me to stay?" He asked her as he slowly sat back down and she nodded, he continued. "Because last time we saw each other I kinda got the idea in my head that you didn't want to have anything to do with me anymore-"

She frowned, "Never, Naruto.." She admitted, getting another small smile out of him before he frowned and broke their eye contact. Last time she saw him, it was his back receding towards his car after she rejected his love for her. "I.. I'm sorry-"

"Why are you still saying sorry for what I did?-"

"Be-Because it isn't your fault that I can't return your feelings." She stated, sharing a small frown with him before she looked towards her forgotten dinner and he shook his head. "It isn't your fault either, at least emotionally." He said, intriguing her enough to listen. "It's mentally your fault though." He agreed, causing her to look back up at him as he simply shrugged.

Processing his words in silence as she stared him down, he played with his also forgotten food and explained himself. "I don't know, the other day I was out with my friend Lee who said how everyone has four states of mind. At the time, I had no clue what he meant, but I get it now… You're so worried about everyone else's opinion about us, that it's messing with your mental state of mind." He explained, causing her to frown as he decided to continue.

"Whenever we're around each other, I know you feel just as much joy as me. And I know when we kissed you liked it as much as me. I've missed you… and I know you've missed me, obviously since you asked me to stay in here with you to clean and we still haven't cleaned!" He stated with a dry laugh, causing her to smile and look away from him. He reached out for her hand and held it, staring deep into her eyes once she shyly looked back up at him. "The only thing keeping us away from each other is you mentally, because you're so worried about what your in-laws will think or-"

"Or what the father of my child-"

"Who isn't in the picture right now and who hasn't been in the picture for five year's now, Hinata?" He stated, causing her to gently sigh as he squeezed her hand in reassurance and maybe as a bit of a push. "If you could give me a chance to love you, we can deal with him together." He promised, taking her other hand in his. "It can be an us thing. I'll take you out, and I'll treat you to a night you deserved two weeks ago." He offered, getting a blush out of her as she then shyly asked,

"Are… Are you asking me out on a date?"

He smiled widely as he then furiously nodded. "Hinata Hyuga, I'm asking you to give me one more chance to make you mine… I promise I won't mess up, and you know I don't break my promises." He promised, giving her his best puppy eyes as she then laughed and looked away from him.

During these two weeks she concluded that she wanted to try and move on from Sasuke but didn't know how to make that first step. When she went on that date, she was a nervous wreck and it showed tremendously when she broke the poor man's nose, but going on a date with Naruto?

Thinking of the two of them and not the two of them with everyone else's opinions involved, it excited her to have the possibility of them being more than friends. He, Naruto Uzumaki, was asking her, Hinata Hyuga, a single WOMAN out on a date, not the single mother who was left to raise a son on her own…

"I'd… love to."

* * *

 ** _And chapter end! I hope you guys enjoyed, I like how it turned out and I'm excited for you guys to see and read chapter 4 and the ups and downs it'll have!_**


	4. Parallel Worlds

**Chapter Four**

* * *

He entered the motel room behind his brother, leaving Jugo on watch and Suigetsu as his sitter. With nearly thirty people dying at the last motel, it made sense for Itachi to want Jugo under supervision.

The task at hand was simple, at least that's what he kept telling himself. Go in, set up the scene, leave out; simple. For the past hour they all been sat outside her motel, waiting for a good time to make their move. He was starting to get anxious until Itachi finally ordered for movement.

She was in the bathroom, a detail that reminded him of Jugo, but he buried the thought as he searched the room for the woman's stash. "Look in the end-tables, I got over here." Itachi whispered, making his way towards a cluttered desk as Sasuke did the end-tables. He was nervous, anxious even; the last motel he searched had a bomb inside of it, and now he was in search of opioid's so he and his brother could murder a woman!

It was a kill or be killed situation, he knew that—practically implanted the fact in his head on their way, but it still couldn't defeat the fact that they were going to go through with it. How was he supposed to touch Hinata, or hug his mother after all these years after murdering a woman?

He connected eyes with his brother once he found the drugs, saying a thousand words with only their eyes. Phase one of their plan was finished. As they went to phase two, the bathroom door began to open, nearly causing Sasuke to curse under his breath if Itachi didn't act quickly by throwing them in a closet.

They looked at one another as Itachi held the closet door shut. Sasuke went to speak until the woman began talking to herself. "What the fuck?" She questioned, seeming to throw a pillow or two around in looks of her stash. "Where did it go? Where did it go?!" She freaked out, causing Sasuke to squeeze the needle in hand as Itachi pushed the closet door open.

Once she saw the dark figure jump out the closet, she screamed, fighting with him once he tried to cover her mouth. "I'm here to help." He said as he then pinched her nose and took them to the bed. "Drugs." He called for his brother who hesitantly came but froze once he saw Itachi sitting on top of the woman while he smothered her. "The drugs!" He harshly repeated, releasing the woman to yank them out of the youngest Uchiha's hands.

Sasuke blinked tears away as he watched his brother prepare the drugs for her, she connected eyes with him, being the only thing visible for both brothers as they were dressed in black from head to toe. As though trying to escape her stares, he unconsciously backed up only to get pushed by a man rushing out the bathroom.

Fuck. "What the fuck?! What are you doing!" A dark-haired man questioned, going for Itachi's shirt until Sasuke caught him. They looked at each other before the man pushed Sasuke away, Sasuke's grip tightened. "Get the hell off of me!-"

He punched the man in the face, breaking his nose with the second throw as the man released his shirt in pain. "Ah, fuck!" He hissed, glaring up at Sasuke as he held himself up with the wall. "Who the hell are you people!?" He yelled, turning to yank Itachi off his woman once more until Sasuke caught him by the shoulder. The man swiftly turned around and punched him, knocking him to the ground!

Itachi looked behind him, anxiety filling within him. The woman then gripped his neck, forcing his attention back towards her as he then fought to inject her. "Gou, help!" She cried out, pulling on Itachi's mask as the man continuously attacked Sasuke. They were back and forth on the floor, each getting a couple good punches in until suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach.

Looking down he saw it, blood. He's been stabbed. Connecting widened eyes with the man's darkened ones, it was as though he was slapped by a paddle. It was a kill or be killed situation... it was a kill or be killed fight. Was he going to die? Let this man take him from ever seeing Hinata again? Or even his family again? No.. 'I won't let this happen.' He thought to himself as he then took the man by the collar and slammed their heads together.

Knocking the man known as Gou back a bit, he punched him in the eye, then in the mouth and jaw, then the nose— Maybe it was the heat from his wound, or maybe it was the heat from his rage within, but he punched, and punched, and punched, yelling with each throw without realizing he was now on top of the man. "Stop.. please" The man croaked out, but Sasuke didn't hear him, he couldn't hear anything. All he could see was red, and all he could hear was his inner self yelling for him to survive.

"Sasuke." Itachi called out, but he continued to beat the mans face in. "They're gone, Sasuke. That's enough." He ordered, placing a hand on his brothers shoulder only to be shrugged off. He watched with a frown as Sasuke growled and continued to beat the man until unrecognition, "Little brother, I said that's enough!" He demanded, yanking Sasuke off the man's corpse and back to reality. "He's dead. You killed him." He said, looking down at Sasuke as he expected him to freak out, but instead…

"He… stabbed me." Sasuke croaked, looking down at his bruised hands as they shook. "It was.. a kill or be killed situation… like you said-"

"He stabbed you?!" Itachi asked in shock, squatting down to examine the wound. Sasuke lifted his shirt as he took in shaky breaths. "You need to elevate your feet-"

"We need.. to leave." He breathed, looking around them as Itachi did the same. It was a murder scene, a scene that they had no part in. "You're right." Itachi agreed, standing to his full height as he then made his way towards the front door. "Jugo, I need you to make this look like a couples fight gone wrong. Suigetsu, I need you to help me move Sasuke to the car, he's been stabbed." He ordered around, causing Sasuke to nearly smirk at their reactions if he wasn't bleeding to death.

He wasn't dead though, yet at least. _'Not until I see her again… Hinata.'_ He thought, turning his head to the side once a tear streamed down his cheek and Suigetsu squatted next to him. "Wassup man? How does it feel to be stabbed for the first time?" The white-haired man asked as he began to rip Sasuke's shirt off. "Ima just apply pressure really quick, so don't get pissy with me or anything." Suigetsu breathed, flinching once Sasuke growled in pain.

He wasn't dead yet…

* * *

He woke up blurry-eyed, confused by the muffled noises and bright lights that seemed to quickly pass him by. Where was he? It felt as though he was floating, but to where? Looking around, he hissed in pain, connecting eyes with familiar. "Itachi.." He breathed, going to sit up until Jugo's bulky arms laid him back in his seat harshly causing him to flinch. Itachi placed his gaze back on the road.

"You should rest more, little brother. We still got a while until we make it back." The eldest Uchiha spoke, gripping the steering wheel as he tried to be calm and collected while his mind was scattered and his body was tense. They almost didn't make it out there alive, and well... they killed two people.

To talk about it is one thing, but to do it? He didn't' think they could go through with it, he didn't truly think he'd be able to go through with it, but he did... and her face was now forever burned in his memory; her last tear that dripped down her cheek, and how her hands on and around his face slowly lost its strength and it's movement altogether—he killed a woman.

Who else would he have to kill in order to get to Izumi? And who else would he have to watch get brutally beat to death by his little brother?... He didn't think he would do it anymore as just the memory of Jugo handling that man's dead body that seemed so unrecognizable from the man just moments before brought chills down his spine.

"How much distance... have we made?" Sasuke questioned, shrugging Jugo's hands off him as he began to examine his wound. It was deep. Itachi took in a deep breath before he replied,

"We're out of the land of fire, and on our way back to Karin. She can treat you better."

Frowning at his brothers words, he grazed his fingers over his wound and flinched, yanking his hand away as he heard Suigetsui's unneeded comment, "Oh yeahh, she's gonna have a field day." He scoffed as he then chuckled to himself. "I don't know if she's gonna be upset that her poor Sasuke got injured, or happy that her Sasuke is helpless and now shirtless under her supervision."

Sasuke glared at the man as he thought, _'I'm not **her's** to begin with'_. He turned his attention on the road as his brother came to his defense, "I guess that means she'd have to be supervised as she supervises him. So, I guess Jugo and I will take care of tracking Orochimaru down, while you keep eye an on Karin and make sure Sasuke heals without trauma?" Itachi suggested although he came to the conclusion himself, looking in his rear-view mirror at Suigetsu as the man sighed and sat back in his seat.

It was a solid plan, that much Sasuke knew, but he also knew he'd rather not "rest up" while Itachi and Jugo handled the dangerous business. Dealing with Karin was one thing, but Karin and Suigetsu together? Anything longer than ten minutes with them made his head want to explode... Wasn't he in enough pain already?

* * *

She covered her mouth as a giggle escaped her plump lips, getting a smile out of the blond who rested his head in his hand, admiring the noise and continued,

"Hey, I'm serious y'know."

She nodded, "Oh yes, definitely Naruto." She jokingly agreed, sharing a genuine smile with him as he then went on about the last time he stepped foot inside the restaurant they were at. It was family owned by a childhood friend of his, Choji, and they spent the last forty minutes reminiscing of Choji and their high school days.

Both could not get rid of the smiles on their faces, feeling as though they could talk for hours. "…I swear it reminded me of lunchtime at school, just a lot of money out the pockets." He sheepishly chuckled.

"I bet, just hearing his name reminds me of how he'd bring his dog with him everywhere." Hinata agreed, recalling an old friend of theirs named Kiba and his lifetime companion Akamaru. "I wonder what ever happened to him?"

The blond snorted, "Well after Akamaru thrashed this place, I heard it wasn't long after that Kiba skipped town." He said, taking a sip of his drink as she said, "I had no clue." He shrugged, "Meh, after a while everyone leaves this town… Not me." He said with a small smile, but she smiled widely at that.

"Of course not, soon-to-be Hokage of Konoha." She teased playfully, going for another bite of her food as he smiled and shook his head. Growing up, that was all Naruto would talk about, following in the footsteps of his father. She's watched as he grew mentally and spiritually, preparing for when it was his time to come and she's been rooting for him.

"Ehh, don't let my dad hear that. He's too comfortable in the seat. My side hussles another story though, I can make you a mean bowl of Ramen. People actually have been ordering the bowl I personally made, y'know?" He wiped his nose with a proud look, getting a "oh really?" Out of his date as he nodded and added, "Yeah! Ahh, I would've taken us down to Ichiraku but it's my day off y'know? No work while I'm with you.. Which I'm very happy to be here with you right now, sorry if I'm talking a lot, I've just been wanting to go on a date with you for some time now." He admitted, causing a small blush to appear on her cheeks.

"You're sweet, Naruto. I'm happy right now too, this date compared to my date last week is amazing, and you look quite handsome might I add." She complimented, feeling comfortable around him and not like a "horrible, no good nurse" like the man before thought of her. She knew she could talk about whatever with Naruto without him trying to move too fast or make her uncomfortable.

The boundaries between them were known, and history was already made between them. It wasn't awkward trying to get to know one another, it was simply.. Perfect.

"I could compliment how you look all night." He smiled, going for a bite of his meatloaf as she went for a bite of her mash potatoes. "Choji sure does know how to cook." He complimented the chef, getting a long "mhmm" out of Hinata as she savored the buttery goodness. He watched her with a light in his eye as though she was a shining diamond.

Her hair was done up, with bangs that parted in the middle but covered most of her forehead as she wore a ruby red dress with a white collar that flowed perfectly over her knees and over her black leggings. She looked elegant in his eyes, ' _So beautiful.'_ He couldn't tell if she had makeup on or not, and doubted that she truly needed any to make her look anymore gorgeous. She went for another bite of her food, this time her white pearled earrings catching his attention.

It was three pearls in one, hanging down her pale face, pulling the outfit together as a whole and hitting nicely with the light. "Am I staring too much?" He suddenly asked, going for another bite of his food as he continued to stare her down, she shook her head with a tint of rosy cheeks.

"It-it's kinda making me giddy inside. Reminding me of when we were younger and how I'd constantly admire you from afar." She admitted, getting him to chuckle as he recalled catching her on multiple occasions. "I.. I would have never saw this. Me and you here, enjoying a meal together. I don't want it to end." She said, smiling to herself as she then pulled out her phone and saw the time. It read 10:48, a time that made her swallow her steak hard. They've been talking for hours. _'We arrived around 8.'_

"Oh boy.." She whispered, going for her text messages as he asked, "Is everything okay?" She nodded. "Ye-Yeah, just almost eleven."

"Should we start heading back? We can get to-go boxes, and continue with a movie?" He suggested, causing her to look up from her phone with a shy smile. A movie afterwards sounded perfect. If she was thinking of the timing and if he was anyone else, she would've ended the date here, but her mouth moved faster than her thoughts when she agreed.

She texted her sister that she'd be home shortly and from there began to prepare.

* * *

She unlocked her front door with a laugh, laughing with Naruto as he helped push the door open wider with his free hand. The laughter was soon halted once they were greeted by a tired teenager tapping her left foot as though she caught them red-handed.

"I see you two had a good night." Hanabi said with a strained look on her face. "Soseki's asleep upstairs, he is a force to be reckoned with and I refuse to watch him anymore." She joked as she got her jacket from the rack and her backpack from the couch.

Hinata smiled at that. "Thanks Hanabi, I promise to pay you my next payday. I know it's late." Hanabi breathed, nodding at that as she then went to hug her sister. "You can crash with me tonight if you're too tired to drive home? I'd rather you safe." Hinata suggested, getting a small shrug out of the young woman.

"It's alright, I'm a big girl." She assured her worrisome sister and before she could leave was stopped by Naruto handing her twenty for her troubles. "Oh sweet!"

"Thanks for letting me take your sister out tonight, Hanabi. Have a good night!" He said his farewell, taking his jacket off as she waved them bye but not after giving her thanks. Hinata smiled at him.

"Thanks for that, I'll repay you." She promised, blushing a little as she watched her sister drive off and he shrugged, taking his shoes off.

"Meh, you could.. Maybe with a kiss?" He innocently asked, getting a side glance from Hinata once she closed the blinds and giggled, facing him fully as she thought about it then shook her head teasingly. He gasped, pouting to himself as he said, "Alright, alright, maybe too soon. But at least I tried?" He retorted, getting a smile out of the woman who then pecked his cheek. "Ah!"

She laughed as she made her way upstairs to check on her bundle of joy. Tucking him in with a kiss on the forehead, and turned his nightlight on. She decided against changing and made her way back downstairs, listening to the tv news that was on as Naruto came into view looking through her movies.

 **"...Witness from the last motel incident, pronounced dead. Could this be a cover-up of ones tracks?**

 **Woman…-"**

Naruto changed the channel, putting it on AV so they could watch the movie and not get depressed after such a good night. Hinata was already caught up though.

"Hey, wait.. I was listening to that." She called to him, getting a small sigh out of the man as he turned the channel back.

 **"…Death is being ruled out as an overdose as her boyfriend Gou Alajorn was beaten to death."**

"That's horrible." Hinata breathed, taking a seat on the couch as Naruto did the same, shaking his head. She looked at him in disbelief. It _was_ horrible.

"These guys are heartless, Hinata. You can tell by the intel we're all getting. What human in their right mind would explode a motel full of children and women, then hunt down the survivors and beat them to death?" He asked, not really looking for an answer as he shook his head and continued. "The police aren't no help either, they should've had someone on guard to keep them safe, y'know? Now we have zero witnesses to help find the crazy assholes." His words were true, and it saddened her to agree with him.

 **"Sad night in Konoha-"**

This time she turned the station, putting it on Nepflit to find a movie for them which put a small smile on his lips.

"That's enough news for tonight. Wh-What should we watch?" She asked, looking up at him as they began to then find a movie together.

It was a PG end to a good date night, and neither soul knew the man they both held close to their hearts was fighting for his heartless life as the world as he knew changed into a kill or be killed world.

Their love started with a bright flame that called for dance they blindly waltz into, and with Naruto pecking Hinata's forehead as she nuzzled up within his arm around her, her heart began to burn a passion she hasn't felt since the night it went cold.


	5. Transformations

**_Hello, it's TheBana! I updated this chapter cause though I loved all the reviews I've received from it, my point seemed looked upon which only made sense cause since I was so excited to upload a new chapter, I didn't triple check and add to it like usual— that and well, it was almost the next day and I was tired as hell.._**

 ** _BUT HEY, NOW I DID! :) I even changed the name from "Temptations" to "Transformations" as I feel that fits more better!_**

 ** _I hope if you're new you enjoy this chapter, or if you're rereading that you enjoy the subtle changes ^-^ but thats about all I wanted to say other than me not owning ANY NARUTO EXCEPT for my little Soseki and I hope you all enjoy! ;)_**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

* * *

"It was so cool!" Her four-year-old exclaimed in the backseat, getting a small "I bet" from his mommy as he nodded and continued. "I didn't know you could keep it forever, I want them everywhere!" Soseki said with his eyes glistening with excitement.

He was going on and on about his aunts tattoo that Hinata didn't know existed till now. She was sure their father had no clue either as the man was strict when it came to tradition, sure he would've had a heart attack if he knew of his youngest daughter "marking her temple" as he would call it.

"Well, I don't know about putting it everywhere on your body. Your face is too cute, why would you want that covered up?" She asked, smiling to herself as he said,

"Because they're cool, mommy. I don't need everyone pinching my cheeks either, I hate it. You and grandmama see them and pinch them, I have to cover them up!" He explained as he covered his cheeks and she laughed.

"Tattooing your face can't stop _my_ pinches." She turned around to pinch his cheek lovingly and he playfully screamed, "Noo!" she turned her attention back to the road with a giggle, tapping the steering wheel patiently for the light to change as he then asked,

"Does daddy have any tattoo's?"

Her tapping stopped. "Mm, not that I recall. Your father, he… He wouldn't want to put just anything permanently on his body." She answered numbly, trying her best not to think of the man's ways as much but their son refused to let that happen.

"Do you think he'd tattoo my face on his face?" He asked, getting a small laugh out of his mother that made him smile.

"No sweetie, I don't think your father would. You two look alike already, it'll just look funny." She laughed with him, getting a "So what" in response that made her heart warm up.

They were on their way to her in-laws under Soseki's request, and the car ride like always was interesting to say the least. His excitement from hanging out with Hanabi always left a lingering happiness within him that'll last a couple of days since the woman didn't come around as much as they liked.

Her father made sure he kept his youngest busy, and Hinata couldn't help not to blame herself for that. He tried too hard to keep Hanabi on a short leash in fear of her too getting knocked up. He couldn't afford to disown another child.

She sighed at that thought, remembering the day he tossed her out the house like trash. Her cheek stung just thinking of it, she didn't have a supportive father or friends group. The first few months of her pregnancy, everyone's true selves came out.

Sasuke being no where to find, she became the laughing stock at school. Guys treated her like she was easy and as though she slept with everyone, friends like Kiba and Shino became awkward and stopped hanging around her as the females became bitches, the main culprit being Sasuke's fanclubs leader, Sakura Haruno. Even Naruto and her didn't talk for a couple months, but that was more on her part.

She was too depressed for his ray of sunshine personality, but when her son was born, it was much welcomed. He self-proclaimed himself as uncle Whiskers and swore to help in any way he could. He'd buy Soseki formula and diapers whenever he ran out and she had nothing to her name. _'He was always here for us..'_ She thought as her heart fluttered and her stomach sunk as she pulled into the Uchiha's driveway.

Soseki bounced in his seat with excitement as she exited the car and took him out shortly after. "I can't wait to tell grandmama about the tattoos I'm gonna get! Do you think she'll get one with me?" Soseki asked his mother as they walked towards the door hand in hand. He looked up at her as she shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know sweetie, you'll have to ask. You aren't getting one until twenty years, so we'll see." She said, getting a gasp out of the little man as she rung the doorbell and held back a laugh at his reaction.

"Twenty years?!" He asked in disbelief. "That's _farr_." He began to complain as the door swung open and it was his grandfather, looking grumpier than usual.

"Hello father, how's your day been treating you?"

"Like hell, come on in." He answered shortly, opening the door wider for the two and ruffled his grandsons hair as the child entered with a pout. "What's wrong, champ?" Fugaku asked, crossing his arms as he looked down at the mini version of his youngest kin.

"Hi papa, I wanna tattoo my body but mommy said I can't until twenty years! I'll be… I'll be.." He started counting on his fingers, then shouted. "Too old! I can't wait twenty years, then my tattoos will look all weird! I need them to look cool!" He explained with a "hmph" at the end, causing the man to laugh once he finished.

"You wouldn't be that old, just considered an adult and _that's_ more cool than some tattoo." Fu compared, not interesting the four-year-old enough to sway his mind.

"Oh yeah? And what cool stuff can adults do that doesn't involve _awesome_ tattoos papa?" He grumbled, crossing his tiny arms as his grandmother entered the foyer with a smile.

"I knew I heard my grandbaby! Soseki, Hinata, helloo." Mikoto greeted, pulling Hinata into a hug as Soseki lit up and Fugaku shook his head, finding an end to the conversation as he too crossed his arms and watched the exchange between his wife and Hinata.

"Evening mother Miko, how are you today?" Hinata asked as Soseki exclaimed, "Grandmama!" And she gestured for them all to enter the living room, swooping up Soseki as they all obeyed.

"Oh, today has been a stressful day indeed. Have you been watching the news these past couple of days?" Miko asked, getting a small frown out of Hinata as she nodded. Mikoto shook her head. "I can't believe they did that to that poor man."

"Me neither, mother. It's truly horrible."

"What's horrible is that we still don't know the people behind all of this and actual civilians are starting to freak out." Fugaku sighed, stressfully running his fingers through his brown locks with a frown as he then added. "We suspect the assholes reside in Konoha-"

"Dear, watch your language! Our little Seki is too pure for that. How is my handsome man feeling today anyway?" Mikoto questioned as she then held the little boy up with a smile and he laughed.

"I'm great! I have so much to tell you, grandmama. I'm gonna get a million tattoos!" He announced, widening the older woman's eyes as she looked between Soseki and his mother who covered her mouth to laugh.

"Are you now?"

The boy excitedly nodded. "Yeah! When my auntie Hanabi was over, she showed me her awesome flower tattoo on her back!" He explained, bouncing within the woman's arms as his words sparked Fugaku's attention once more.

"You saw your sister recently? How is she doing?" The man asked Hinata whose eyebrows briefly raised. _'Oh boy..'_ She thought as a small smile graced her lips. _'Here we go..'_

"Yes, she came over the other night. She's doing okay, um we didn't really catch up though as she was tired." Hinata explained, praying to Kami that he'd ask no further questions as she had no more answers to give that wouldn't have started an interrogation about her date with Naruto.

"Hn. I'm surprised to hear your father allowed a tattoo and not a life." Fu said, making his way out the room once Mikoto gasped, "Oh, stop that!" she scolded as she then released Soseki, watching with a small smile as he rushed towards the tv.

"Now don't you mind him, he's just grumpy today. Was there an emergency at the hospital dear?"

"Oh, no. I-I um.. I had a date, mother."

The woman's eyes lit up. "Did you now? How did that go?" She asked eagerly, curious to who her daughter-in-law roped in this time compared to her last. She would've assumed the young woman learned her lesson and was going to continue the wait for Sasuke's return but alas.

"It went really well, actually. I had a lovely time out." She admitted with a smile that was rare in Mikoto's eyes, so rare it widened her eyes a bit. Narrowing them once a small smile crossed her lips.

"I see.. I sure hope you're only looking for a fling and not someone to well.. _Daddy_ Soseki." She said, parting Hinata's lips due to shock as the woman then laughed. "There's plenty of fish at the carnival, but remember they all die within a couple of days."

Hinata nodded, not out of agreement but simply because she didn't know what to do or say to her mother-in-law. It wasn't like she was looking for a man to father her child, she was looking for a man to build a bond with. One could say a fling, if they didn't know her well enough.

She couldn't see herself going on these dates just for sex. It's been some time, and she honestly didn't know if she could see herself with any other man than Sasuke within the sheets. He was her first and only partner… The thought of laying down with Naruto never even crossed her mind.. Till now.

A light blush grazed her cheeks as Mikoto patted her shoulder. "Ah sweetie, I'm just teasing. I'm sure you don't need me to remind you of Sasuke's return." His return? Hinata's heart would usually skip at just the thought, but it was as though it went numb as her words left her mouth faster than she could process the thought.

"Are we fully aware of it being a possibility anymore?" The incredulous look she got from Mikoto made her bite back hard on her words as she then fixed herself, "I-I mean that by it-it's been almost five years now an-and there's been no indication-"

"Are you suggesting that my boys are deceased, Hinata? Because I can assure you they're not. Call it a motherly instinct, because I know they're alive… just… living their lives I guess." She hoped, looking down at her wedding ring as Hinata looked down at her boots. How was she so sure and why was it fair for Sasuke to runaway and simply "live his life" for a while, while she had to deal with growing up and handling a household?

She would've loved not stressing every month to pay her rent on time without borrowing, or to simply have enough money leftover for enough food—That sounded lovely.

They breathed down her neck whenever she thought of living _her_ life and not the life of Soseki's lonely, stressed mother.. She loved her son to death, so it wasn't really like she was complaining, but she couldn't just up, jump, and abandon him like she's been handed. She couldn't move on and find someone to make her happy inside, because her only supporters despite Naruto and Tenten were Sasuke's _biggest_ supporters, _his parents._

Her words somewhat angered her, but what could she do? All she could do right now was enjoy her private dates with Naruto and raise her son with a hint of nosey in-laws here and there.

She forced a smile as she connected eyes with the older woman once more. "You're right, mother Miko.. They'll return soon."

* * *

"Ah, fuck!" He hissed in pain, going for the towel till the woman yanked it out his reach, glaring at her as he growled within and she smirked down at him.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk Sasuke." She clicked her tongue, "You're only making it worse when you do that-"

" _You're_ making it worse when you dab that fucking hard!-"

"See, now look, it's bleeding again-"

"Because of—" He stopped himself and took in a deep breath, balling his fist as he looked anywhere else but at the woman who genuinely was trying. He felt somewhat bad, but that somewhat wasn't enough to stop his pain, so he didn't give a fuck.

These past three days- he could give _two shits_ if she somehow broke a finger while helping him. All she did besides smother him with rough help was flirt his ear off, he hated it, and having Suigetsu around to help was _too_ much of a pain to bare with Karin's constant threats and yells. He at first assumed the roughness came from her anger towards the white-haired man, but she never eased up, just angering the injured man..

Now while growing up, he hated just a _few_ things, like Itachi getting the silver spoon of everything, people's assumptions, and crowds as they were usually loud—

Which meant everything in his world.

Growing up he was surrounded by people assuming the worst of him, and his parents believing he'd "possibly" get somewhere in life. Itachi had more potential he guessed, remembering his fathers words like a haunting dream which caused him to irritably sigh. Karin smiled once more at that as she shook her head and _gently_ dabbed his wound.

He shook his head mockingly. All he wanted was the simple things in life— A smooth career, with a steady income and an easy life with the wife, with maybe a kid or two after buying their home—

BUT NO

He got stabbed. He got stabbed, he abandoned the love of his life, _and_ he was on the run, far away from home, Hinata, and was now in true fear…

It was all settling in, he's been gone for so long, he was forgetting the last time he saw his mother's smile, or his father's annoying ass eyes— Kami, did he hate that mans eyes. _'Asshole.'_ He thought, forcing back a frown as he missed them..

And genuinely didn't know if he'd ever see them again.. All hope, starting to fade. Would they ever find Orochimaru? He didn't know, and if they did, how did they know they were going to survive?

He was in shock, still so confused to the images replaying in his head. _'Itachi.. **killed** that woman…' _He thought, remember the woman's eyes… _'Her eyes..'_ He closed his, only to picture the man _he_ killed.

And suddenly threw up, getting a loud gag out of Karin as she then turned her head and called out for assistance.

"Lord Itachi, Lord _Itachi_!" She practically screeched, shaking her hands as she began to freak out. Throwing up and cleaning up a stab wound were not two good combinations.

 _'I KILLED HIM!'_ He yelled within as he gagged, trying his best to hold his vomit back. The guys burst in, Itachi covered his nose. "This isn't good." He stated the obvious, gaining a glare outta the paling man as Sasuke's name was the only other thing he could say. With one eye swollen shut and his lip still healing from being busted now covered in throw up Suigetsu shook his head, disgust written all over his face.

Well, they were no fucking help. Karin shakingly laid him back as he began to mentally shut down. "Sasuke, my love, _please_. Are you alright?" She asked with worry laced within her words. _'Oh, now she fucking cares.'_ He thought as he glared at her.

He shouldn't have been alive right now. He took another's life, two if he counted witnessing the death of another and doing nothing…

The emotions he felt within, he couldn't explain it. It's all in slow motion, each and every punch… the man's face—was unrecognizable to the face that first punched him. He looked scared beforehand, confused even. "I'm… a monster." He whispered, believing it to his core as he also thought, _'Am I… possible of another?'_ it was a kill or be killed world _after all_..

"..." Itachi bit his tongue, wishing to soothe his brothers pain but didn't know what to say as the realization settled in for him. Sasuke was alright… everything was just settling in. They have blood on their hands now.. "We cannot let it distract us." He forced himself to say, trying his hardest to believe it himself as Sasuke numbly stared at the ground he just drenched.

"We must stay focused, or we die. Orochimaru will kill us, so we-"

"So then what's the fucking point in any of this bullshit then?" Sasuke groggily questioned, slowly looking up at his brother whose brow twitched, gaining a small smirk from Suigetsu as he saw Itachi's breaking point near.

His plan was to kill Orochimaru, if not work with the crazy fuck. The dude was a psycho, could possibly destroy mankind if he wanted and if he did, he wanted on the same side. Who knew if this chick was even alive, and the stories Jugo's been telling him only made his decisions all the more clear, he got in the wrong car after robbing that damn weapons store. He watched as Jugo and Karin began to clean up and scoffed, deciding to join in as he was beginning to see the brothers just as crazy as Orochimaru.

"He will kill us if we give him the chance, little brother. We're close to finding him-"

"Are we? And how are _you_ so sure? Because _I'M_ THE ONE WITH A FUCKING _HOLE_ IN MY STOMACH!-"

"Because I KNOW!" Itachi yelled with him, gaining pauses from the "zombies" that cleaned. Karin, the newly purple-haired wannabe nurse eyes widened, staring back and forth between the brothers as they each glared at one another, both holding so much to say but the dead silence that hit the room hollered.

The eldest cleared his throat. "Karin, men. If you could excuse my brother and I for a moment." He gestured towards the door, never breaking eye contact with the youngest as Karin frantically left and Jugo and Suigetsu followed shortly behind. Once the door shut, Sasuke went to sit up. "You shouldn't do that-"

"You should bud out-"

Itachi sighed, "Don't become an annoyance, it truly only makes things worse." His words stung, but Sasuke took the salt and swallowed dryly. "I'm truly sorry that you have to experience this, but this is the consequences of being stubborn." The man said with a teasing grin, getting a deadlier glare out of his brother.

"Are you being serious right now?" He grumbled, causing the man to shrug his shoulders as he made his way over to the rock hard bed.

"I _did_ tell you not to come with me, but you insisted-"

"Cause it wasn't like I was just gonna let you die, you asshole." Sasuke angrily stated, getting a smile out of Itachi but it didn't reach the eyes. "What do you have some kind of death wish or something? Do you know what we've done!? Do you know what I'm seeing…" He questioned, but it ended with a mumble, conflicted with anger at his brothers will to live, and angry with himself—

Itachi shook his head, playing dumb in Sasuke's eyes but in reality, he was shaking the images replaying within his mind. He hated closing his eyes too, he hated watching his brother experience this pain, he hated not being able to hold his woman in his arms and keeping her there till she KNEW everything was okay, but nothing was..

He couldn't lose hope though, because now he was carrying it for him _and_ Sasuke. They will find Izumi- She _is_ alive and they'll all make it home… He knew it, but the steps were steep and his legs were getting tired of carrying all of this bullshit! He'd kill Orochimaru to get to her, he'd kill all his men to save her..

Getting kicked on the side of his ass by Sasuke, he smirked, giving the man a once over as he hated seeing him like this. The whole right side of his chin was bandaged to cover and heal the swelling as he already needed the bandages to his stab wound changed again, as his hair was a mess and his skin was paling—he looked like death, and a trip to an ER had Itachi tempted… very, very tempted.

He couldn't lose Sasuke- The thought alone he quickly pushed down, not wishing to break down as he felt he endured enough this week. He smiled once more.

"I will kick that smile off your damn face, you're so annoying-"

"I love you too."

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Are you experiencing flashbacks as well?" He suddenly asked, causing Sasuke to pause. "I feel horrible as well… but… Izumi-"

"Itachi, you have to consider-"

He shook his head, "I refuse to hear anything other than the facts, and that is the fact that Jugo and I have crossed off definite areas of where Orochimaru's main hideout do not reside." He spouted, getting a small frown in response.

"And what good does that do for us?" He asked, genuinely lost to the goodness about _not_ finding the guy.

"The towns we're looking at… We have six left to examine and cross out-"

"That's… good?-"

"I'm not done; Jugo believes we have four left as he knows the location to some." He finished as he began to dig in his pockets, pulling out papers that were all neatly folded—Sasuke rolled his eyes, cranky and in pain. It was good news nonetheless, but he wished for these next few days to pass quickly. He wanted to help, wanted to just get this over with so he could finally know his faith!

This brush with death was making him wish desperately to see Hinata, he wished to see his mother and father and even the annoyance he called his best friend, Naruto, but for that wish to come true, he was doubtful and tried his best to numb it, but it was all coming out angrily and he didn't give a fuck, okay?!

"…Four is better than six." Was all he could say that wasn't fucked up, and he truly tried. He didn't want to hurt his brother more than he already was, but socialization these past three days has consisted of Karin sensually caressing up his abs and dabbing too fucking hard cause she flirts more than she pays attention and it was starting to get to his head.

It wasn't like she wasn't attractive, he was just taken and in love with Hinata and her well, everything. Face, voice, breast, curves—he left after FINALLY making love to her, he was hungry, but _not_ for Karin. She could never compare to his goddess—

She was just a temptation, a succubus, even— Just another thing he had to deal with during this horrid time. He was used to women throwing themselves onto him though, and came to the terms a long time ago that it was the most unattractive thing a woman could do.

He liked class, a woman who respected herself enough to cover her precious goods, not half the women he remembered in high school or out on the street.

"There's Kagero, Jomae, Kuni Village, Kiri, and Jiro and Taro island. Jugo has been to two of them." Itachi read off one paper and began to unravel the other, mumbling, "I see us boating in the next few days" As Sasuke sat in thought. To hear the numbers was one thing, but to hear the names…

Kagero was near Suna, and last time he recalled, Kiri? Jiro AND Taro island?

"Itachi, those places are no where near each other-"

"And there you are wrong, my little brother. Our plan is to hit the islands first, being they're the closet to Kiri; a state. It'll take weeks to find him in Kiri-"

"So should we hit it first?" He suggested, pausing the man's movements briefly until he simply shook his head. "Hn."

"We'd be done faster if we tackle the small first, and plus… Jugo was on one of the islands." Itachi backed himself, causing Sasuke to squint his eyes as he thought. _'So is that three or four areas left to visit?'_ "Where all has he been?" he questioned, frowning to himself as to get simple information was tiring him out. Itachi smiled that smile again, unraveling yet another piece of paper.

"Kagero, Jomae, and he escaped from Jiro island, so that's the first place I want us." He clarified, stuffing the papers away as Sasuke took in a deep breath and buried himself within his pillow deeper. "How are you feeling?" He suddenly asked, frowning deeply as he stared the man down.

"That's a dumb question." Sasuke scoffed, shaking his head. "I'm.. A monster-"

"Stop calling yourself that-"

"It's true though." He croaked, trailing his eyes to the ground once more as his body numbed. "I feel like a monster, because I am—her eyes… They won't leave my mind and that man he… he pleaded with me, Itachi… I-I didn't stop, he asked and-"

"And now he will haunt you forever." Itachi simplified, closing his eyes once Sasuke frowned. "So will that women… she… visits me—" He breathed as he rubbed his temples and the women's teary eyes eyed his soul with emptiness. He heard Sasuke begin to sniffle. "…These are the punishments we must endure-"

To endure such punishments, and to deal with the sickening feeling as though his hands would never feel clean again, and that his parents, Hinata— they'd never look at him the same again.

"I should be dead… I deserve to be dead-"

"Sasuke." Itachi said sternly, snapping the man out of his sorrows if not for a minute. "For you to be as upset as you are makes you far from a monster, just a man trying to get home. With who we're dealing with, it was bound to happen sooner or later that we'd get blood on our hands." He stated with a frown,

"A monster…" He whispered, "Little brother, we're _hunting_ _a_ _monster_ right now. He _creates_ monsters, have you not talked with Jugo? The man.. he's disturbed— though he seems quite fond of you, which concerns me." He admitted, deepening his frown as Sasuke wiped his eyes. He hated crying, hated showing emotion to all of this—

"We connected.. I guess." He said as he recalled the night he recruited Jugo and fought back a frown as he thought of all the ones killed in that explosion. "I want to talk with him.. the night we found him he— he killed all those people..."

"That's another thing that concerns me.. You've been getting surrounded by nothing but death lately, and it's beginning to take a toll on you. And you say the two of you "connected", what does that mean? You're angrier than usual, the other day when you snapped at Suigetsu, I thought you were going to take his head off-"

"That's because he doesn't give a damn, and neither do Karin! She just wants to have sex with me, and it's driving me insane-"

"And why is that, little brother? Does someone have a little _crush_ on our only female of the group?" Itachi teased, causing Sasuke to scoff and roll his eyes. It didn't make matters better now that she dyed her hair a dark shade of purple, making it look black indoors. He never paid attention to the women's body, but he was sure his younger brother has just by the light blush in his cheeks.

"Shut up, it's not like that." He hissed, glaring at his brother for even suggesting such a thing. "She's just a succubus, and everything she says is loud, obnoxious, and just plain out annoying, and she never thinks— she reminds me of the idiot, and kami forbid I ever fall for someone like _him_." Sasuke complained, thinking so little of the woman's quality's as a whole and more of the way she bit her lower lip as she eased her way up his body— he balled his fist at that thought. "She's just trying to tempt me."

And he refused to give in, arguing with her for the past three days with her teases and advances as it was like some kind of sick pleasure of hers to say and do the most— He couldn't help his thoughts sometimes, especially since some of the words she'd say would get his mind going for when he was to reunite with Hinata, but what was he supposed to do in a time like this? Walk away, or continue to waste his breath with her constant excuses as to why she was doing what she was doing?!— She angered him more than she turned him on, she _annoyed_ him more than she helped, and Itachi teasing him about her little _obsession_ with him didn't help with his pain!

"Ahh, I see." Itachi nodded, crossing his arms as a sly smirk appeared on his lips and Sasuke kicked him once more.

"Shut up-"

"I didn't even say what I wanted to say yet." The eldest held his hands up in defense and chuckled. "You know… it's okay to admit that you are a _little_ tempted-" He stopped to laugh once his brother kicked him again, but harder this time.

"It'll _never_ happen." He spat out, shaking his head as Itachi went to get up. "I'm with Hinata, and plan on marrying her after we return and I make up for lost time-"

"And I hope that you get to do those things, little brother, but for now you should really focus on resting." He said with a frown, looking over the mans bandages before the thought became clear in mind, Sasuke needed medical attention.. or

"That's all I've been doing.." Sasuke breathed, running his fingers through his hair stressfully as he tried to make himself comfortable. "Give me five.. ten minutes. I'm tired of everyones... bullshit." He whispered, closing his eyes once his brothers frown saddened him. He saw the fear in the mans eyes..

"However long you need…" Itachi took his leave, but not before looking back at Sasuke as he saw just how the man was laying that all the fuss and fight was out of him. He needed rest, strength, and hope, but none could be given easily..

It was times like this that desperate times called for desperate measures.

* * *

"She said that to you?" The man asked, taken aback by the words he was just told. Hinata shyly nodded in confirmation and reached for his hands once he balled them. "That was extremely uncalled for and rude!" He judged, getting a small nod out of Hinata as she then sighed and laid herself out on the rest of the couch.

After she returned from her in-laws without a baby Seki with her, she decided to wind down and called over Naruto, wishing to dump her day on him as she was prepared for him to do the same, but it seemed her going first ruined it altogether as now they were both upset with Mikoto and her words from earlier.

"I know and I just wish I didn't tell her at all, because now I just feel so… dirty." She admitted, getting a small frown in response as she stared up at the ceiling and frowned herself. "I-I don't know.. she talked about him returning and, recalling it now just gives me anxiety be-because if we continue this, how-how would it look? Or-or how would that make him feel?"

Naruto shrugged, "He didn't think for a second how it'll make you or me feel when he decided to skip town for five years, so… and like I said the night I confessed my love to you Hinata, we'll figure it out. You deserve love, and I'm willing to give you my all— I'm done sitting back and watching your in laws and even Sasuke take control of you and your life." He said, admiring the image in front of him with her hair messily laid out around her and her arm rested over her stomach as she met eyes with him briefly before closing her beautiful orbs.

"Why… are you willing to betray him for me…?" She questioned, genuinely curious as to why he'd risk his friendship that's been a thing for years, for her. She peaked an eye open once she heard him laugh a bit.

"Because you're you, Hinata. You're such a caring and loving person that's been through so much and has taken each rough patch as a lesson; you're so strong, and it upsets me— really angers me, actually, that through it all, he used you, broke you, and left you on your own… you went from such a happy ray of sunshine that blushed all the time, to someone trapped and alone. Hinata, what she said is not okay, and it's not alright for us to just take her words." He stated, staring her features down as she slowly opened both eyes and frowned.

He was right. "So what do we do?" She asked, connecting eyes with him as she sat herself up a bit. It was clear to her that he cared for her just as much as she cared for him, but her inner thoughts still fought with her about making this, whatever this was, official. He leaned in closer, causing her heart to race and her cheeks to flush as his lips were just inches from hers.

"We make it official." He whispered over her lips, pulling away before he talked himself into devouring her lips right then and there.

Her cheeks grew hotter, "Wha-Wha-What? Bu-But we've only been on one date-?!"

He shook his head, "And they'll be more to come!" He tried to convince, giving her a cheeky smile as he continued. "It'll show her you're not looking for any flings and that you're serious about moving on from Sasuke and that she needs to bud out of it, y'know? And… I mean I'd love more time with you instead of me coming over on my breaks, or whenever Soseki's out the house-"

"Ye-Yeah, but it-it weirds me out when he calls you uncle Whiskers and we're seeing each other now.." She admitted, causing the man to snicker and her to gently swat at him. "I'm serious." She giggled, laughing harder once he said,

"Come give uncle a kiss"

"Ugh, ew! You're so gross." She laughed, pushing his face away as he climbed over her and tried to give her a sloppy kiss. She gave in after a while, gripping his face as he kissed her sloppily at first, then slowed his way into a sensual kiss that caused a moan to escape her and him to pull away. She struggled keeping contact with his eyes as his lips called for her attention. "Naruto.." She whispered as he blurted out,

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

Her eyes widened, till they softened and she found her hand caressing his cheek. "Please." He added as he took her hands in his and pulled her to sit up. "I want to take things slow, but.. I just can't have another lucky bastard hurt you again.." He admitted, causing her heart to thud out of her chest as her mouth moved before her thoughts could process and—

"I'd gladly be your girlfriend, Naruto." She accepted him, causing his eyes to light up and a smile bigger than she's ever seen before to appear. He wrapped her up in his arms and she giggled, returning the embrace as he squeezed lovingly. "I… We just need to take things slow as my last relationship…" She warned, stopping herself from saying too much as she didn't want to ruin the happy moment; he nodded in agreement.

"Understood, and I promise I'll never hurt you like him. I don't break my promises, Hinata, you know this-"

"I-I know, I just… I like actions more than words nowadays, to be honest-"

"Then I promise you you'll see in how different things will be nowadays that I will never hurt you, Hinata." He swore, staring her so deep within her lavender orbs that she couldn't help but to blush and nod, wishing to believe his words, but couldn't help the little doubt that sat within her tummy.

She couldn't take promises to the heart anymore, since everyone broke everything of hers— this was going to be a journey for sure..


End file.
